


Cold War

by flushed_asian



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: AU, Cold War, F/F, fuck reagan lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-07-16 09:13:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7261966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flushed_asian/pseuds/flushed_asian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Root is a Soviet spy undercover in the suburbs when a new family moves in across the street looking desperately for a new mark.</p><p>Shaw and her husband, FBI Agent Michael Cole, move into a new neighborhood with their daughter, Gen.</p><p>Its 1983 and the Cold War is getting hotter.</p><p> </p><p>(aka- omg i am not at all good at summaries but it gets gay and usually that knowledge is enough for me to read it so?? sorta like The Americans but also takes influence from the POI plot lol)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Meeting / Vstrecha

**Author's Note:**

> lol this is my first fanfic in forever
> 
> i hate writing titles too
> 
> tbh i got this idea while watching The Americans
> 
> its basically poi but a dif setting like shaw will be cool w team machine and root will be a sneaky spy
> 
> anyways enjoy

 

She sat in the corner of the room, dully tracing circular patterns with the condensation surrounding the cool water glass. The woman checked the clock on the wall- she had been sitting there for hours, listening to the same apologies from different mouths over and over again. She hid a grimace as a man approached her and looked up, morphing her expression into a sorrowful one. 

 

“Hey Samantha,” he said, looking down at her. Inwardly she smirked at his awkward pose- his shoulders hunched, his hands in his pockets, sweat glistening his face from the hot August weather.

 

“Hey, Jack, thanks for coming,” she said quietly, offering him a smile.

 

“I’m really sorry about Jason. He was a great guy.” His voice trailed off.

 

Her smile widened, tears forming in her eyes. “Yeah, he was. He would be glad you were here,”

 

Jack eyes widened at the sight of her tears and quickly looked around for a napkin. He grabbed the nearest one on the table and quickly held it out to her. She gave a small frown at the ketchup stains and began to respond when a hand clasped her shoulder.

 

“Sam!”

 

She looked up into her friend’s face. She smiled in relief.

 

“Zoe,” she greeted, standing up. She glanced down at the napkin and shook her head. “No thank you,”

 

Jack nodded and put it back down on the table. He nodded at the two women and gave an encouraging smile.

 

Zoe grabbed her friend’s wrist and began to drag her to the bathroom. “Oh, Sam, you look a mess,” she fussed, reaching her finger to run the mascara around her eyes, enhancing the raccoon look. “Let me clean you up,”

 

They walked down the hallway with ease, people quickly moving out of the way. Zoe pushed her friend into the bathroom and closed the door, turning on the faucet.

 

“Hey Zo,”

 

Zoe ignored the teasing tone and sat down on the edge of the bathtub. “How are you, Root?”

 

Root sat down on the toilet next to her and began dabbing around her eyes with the water, wiping away the make-up. “Pretty good, all things considered,” she shrugged, “My husband is dead, but at least I got a cool party out of it. With cake.”

 

Zoe pursed her lips. “Jason was a good agent,”

 

“I’m better,” she sang.

 

Zoe sighed. “Root…” she warned.

 

“Yes?” she hummed, beginning to wet a cotton pad beneath the stream of water.

 

“Not always do we want to follow orders. But we have to, that’s what makes us good agents,”

 

“Huh, that’s a funny definition, especially since you just said Jason was a good agent,” Root replied, swiping the cotton around the edges of her eyes.

 

Zoe looked at the black and white checkered tiles, the water being the only sound. “I’m sorry,”

 

“Then don’t take me out,” Root’s voice hardened as she turned her head to stare at Zoe.

 

Zoe shook her head. “You know that’s not up to me,”

 

“Convince them,” Root growled, standing up.

 

Zoe stared at her before letting out a sigh. She stood up and squeezed Root’s arm sympathetically. “I’ll try again, but start to pack your bags.”

 

Root scoffed, shaking her head. “ _Proshchay,_ ” Root replied sarcastically. Zoe withdrew her hand and began to open the door. “Don’t forget to try the hor d’oeuvres! I spent all morning putting them together,”

 

Zoe gave her one last look before shutting it behind her. The taller woman turned off the faucet, grunting in frustration. She stared at herself in the mirror, noting how disgruntled she looked. _That’d probably add to the effect,_ she mused as she tucked a strand of stray brown hair behind her ear.

 

Root had been in America for two years since she had heard the news that her mother had died back home, finalizing her conviction to never return to the Union. It was a nice funeral, or so Zoe had told her, who was told by her higher-up, and so on. Hanna was dead- she had been for years- and now her mother. Why return?

 

Jason was useless as usual. He seemed to think her wanting to stay in America meant that she would agree to help with his far-fetched plans of escape. And now he was dead- two bullets in the chest and a slash across his thigh- leaving Root alone once more.

 

She didn’t mind being alone, though. People were idiots, no matter the nation. People only hindered her, if anything.

 

A knock on the door snapped Root out of her thoughts. She cleared her throat and opened it slightly, coming face to face with her and Jason’s boss at the computer company.

 

“Hey, Sam,” he said, giving her a sympathetic smile. “Everything alright in there?”

 

Root bowed her head. “Yeah, thanks, Mr. Greene. I’m alright. Just needed a little space, is all,”

 

He nodded and clasped her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Root fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Do you want me to clear everyone out? You ought to get some rest- it’s been a tiring day for you. Go upstairs, rest up,”

 

“Oh, would you? That would be so wonderful,” Root gushed, smiling back at him. “Who would’ve thought putting together a memorial service would be so exhausting.”

 

“Well, it is beautiful- Jason would be proud. I’m sure he’s up there, smiling down at you,” he said, withdrawing his hand. The words meant nothing- neither her nor Jason cared in the slightest about religion. “And don’t forget- I don’t want you coming in for another week!”

 

Root smiled at him as he walked away. “Thanks, Mr. Greene,” She sighed in relief as she ascended the stairs, casting a glance at the few people scattered around her living room- neighbors, coworkers, people from the dog-park. Even the local police were here, Root noted, smirking in the irony. Everyone loved The Groves’.

 

She lay down in her bed, listening to the voices outside from her window as they all got into their respective cars. _Thank god for that old sap,_ she thought. She had been itching to kick those people out since they first stepped in the front door.

 

Root yawned, suddenly realizing how tired she was. Slowly she shut her eyes as she drifted off into sleep.

* * *

 

 

The sound of a car door slamming snapped Root out of her slumber. On instinct, she shot up, muscle memory letting her find her gun beneath Jason’s old pillow with one hand as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with the other. She blinked several times, looking around the room. Her eyes landed on the open window and she sighed in relief as she stumbled over to close it.

The sun wasn’t too high, but enough so that she could easily see the family across the street. _New neighbors,_ she reminded herself as she stifled a yawn, lazily tossing the gun back on the bed.

 

She stared at the sky for a few moments, until deciding on sometime after six in the morning. She glanced at the clock by her bedside- _6:05 AM_ , it read in bright red. She smirked to herself- many mornings had she spent staring out the window, allowing her to pick up that skill.

 

“Shaw,” a voice called, snapping Root’s attention back to the family outside the window. She watched as a man strained to hold up a large box. “Help,”

 

Root laughed to herself at the struggling man, finding amusement in how pathetic he looked. The other woman- Shaw- seemed to think so too, as she rolled her eyes and lazily walked around the car just in time to catch the box right before it fell from his hands. The box was more than half of the woman’s size, but that didn’t stop her from being able to put it back up. The two of them made their way up the driveway as Root watched.

 

“Shaw! Shaw!” a voice called from behind the moving van. Emerged into sight was a small girl, about ten or so from Root’s guess. She bounded up the steps leading to the porch and stood beside her mother as she and her husband set down the box.

 

Root watched as Shaw and the girl speak to each other, cursing the grenades from years in America that had ultimately left her deaf in her right ear.

 

The small woman turned her head, making eye contact with Root in the window. They held their gazes for several moments until the young girl said something, pulling away her mother’s attention. Root decided it was best for her to withdraw from her spot at the window before Shaw looked up again.

 

Root padded down the stairs into the kitchen, scooping out some of the dog food into Bear’s bowl. The clink of the Malonis’ collar announced his arrival as he waddled over, bending down his head into the bowl. As she squatted down to stroke the dog, she thought about the family.

 

It wasn’t unusual for Root to watch her neighbors if she woke up too early. Humans were intriguing, even if predicable. The husbands would drive off to work, sometimes accompanied by their wives. The kids would rush to catch the school bus, late from taking those extra five minutes of sleep. It was simple.

 

Not that Root was envious of them. They were boring- they couldn’t think for themselves, always doing what everyone else did just for the sake of fitting in. She wasn’t meant for that type of normalcy. Still, that didn’t keep her from watching.

 

* * *

 

“ _Tick… tick-ticktick… tick-tock tock…_ ”

 

Root’s eyes darted between her notepad and the key, deciphering the sounds as they sounded. A long beep sounded signaling the end of the message and Root hung up.

 

_Meet 1300 spot 3C_

 

Suddenly, a knock came from her door. Root gave the rip of paper one last look before emerging it in the bowl of warm water next to her, watching as the black ink swirl off of the page.

 

Once illegible, Root wadded the paper up and tossed it into the garbage bin. She wiped her hands on her jeans as she walked to the door. She opened it.

 

On the porch stood Shaw and who Root presumed to be her husband and her daughter.

 

“Hi there! We’re your new neighbors,” the man greeted jovially. “I’m Michael Cole, this is Sameen, and this is Gen,”

 

“Sameen _Shaw_ ,” the small woman stressed in annoyance.

 

Michael blushed slightly. “Yes, sorry, sorry, Shaw,”

 

Root gave a bemused look. “And you’re married?”

 

“Huh? Oh, yeah, we are. She just kept her name,” Cole explained, smiling again.

 

“Shaw’s stubborn,” Gen piped up. Root examined her. She called her Shaw by her first name and was white, where Shaw was clearly not. On closer look- she was Eastern European, maybe even Russian, Root noted with interest. _What an interesting family._

 

“I’m Samantha Groves- but please, call me Sam,” she replied, smiling. She opened the door wider. “Please, come in,”

 

The family entered in one by one, Shaw trailing in the back. Root smiled at the other woman as she closed the door, amused at what seemed to be her permanent scowl.

 

“You have a dog?” Gen exclaimed in excitement as Bear ran up to her. She kneeled down, letting the large dog sniff her hand before rubbing his head. At this, Shaw seemed to perk up, gravitating towards the animal as well. A small smile formed on her lips as the dog nuzzled its head against her hand.

 

Root laughed. “Yep, that’s Bear,”

 

Michael smiled to her, nodding his head at the girls behind him. “Gen’s been begging for a dog for months,”

 

“She’s welcome to come over anytime,” Root replied, surprising herself. Usually she’d hate having her neighbors in her house, but this family seemed different. Intriguing.

 

“That was your husband, yeah?” Shaw asked, nodding at the picture of her and Jason on the wall. Root noted the past tense.

 

“Yes, Jason,” she said, putting on a sorrowful look. She looked down. “He, uh, died a couple of weeks ago. His memorial was yesterday, actually,”

 

Gen shot of quick frown at Shaw before giving her a sympathetic look. “We heard, we’re sorry.” The child glanced again at Shaw. “Shaw is sorry, too,”

 

Root looked at Shaw who in return gave her a nod. Out of all of the reactions Root had faced, it was the most different- the calmest.

 

“Thank you, I appreciate it,” Root replied, giving them a grateful smile. They stood around awkwardly, looking at their feet. “Are you guys hungry?” Root suddenly said as a way to fill the silence. “I think I have leftovers from the service- finger food, maybe a couple of cookies? Chicken nuggets?”

 

Root hid a smile at the uncomfortable look on Michael’s face. “We’re good, thanks,”

 

Shaw shot him an annoyed look but remained silent.

 

“But we’d love to have you over for dinner tonight,” Michael offered, “So you aren’t alone.”

 

Shaw frowned at her husband. “Don’t you have to go to work early in the morning?”

 

Michael quickly shot her a glare, before smiling again at Root. “It’s fine, it’s fine, we’d love to have you,”

 

Root smiled at Shaw, who grumbled something in annoyance. “I would love to come over,” she said, smiling wider. “What time?”

 

“Six-thirty,” Michael said, before nudging Gen to stand up. “We have to finish packing, but please come over,”

 

“I’ll be there with a bottle of wine,” Root said cheerfully, escorting them out the door. “By the way, Michael, what do you do?”

 

“I’m an FBI agent,” he replied proudly. Root faltered in her steps, before quickly resuming her pace. Shaw watched her carefully.

 

“Wow, FBI,” she murmured to herself in disbelief. She cleared her throat. “Wow, impressive,” she said, louder this time.

 

Michael smiled. “Yeah, well,” he said with a shrug, “It feeds the family. We’ll see you in a few,”

 

Root shut the door behind them, her mind a whirl. This was it- this was perfect.

 

A genuine smile spread across her face. Root had found a way to stay in the United States.

 


	2. Dinner / Obed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shaw and Cole get more acquainted with their neighbors.
> 
> Root stops by for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i havent watched the season finale yet bc i dont have cable but i am very scared. i love them all please dont kill any more ppl off lol
> 
> anyways leading into further interactions and more backstory cool cool

Shaw sat on the kitchen counter, popping pomegranate seeds into her mouth from the bowl beside her that Cole was adding as he carved the fruit up for her.

 

“I still can’t believe that you invited her over for dinner,” she grumbled, reaching for another seed. Cole hastened his work- she was eating the seeds at a faster rate than he was adding them.

 

“Her husband just died,” he reminded.

 

“She didn’t seem that broken up about it,”

 

“People handle grief in different ways. You of all people should know that,” he replied pointedly, tossing the last seed into the bowl. Shaw watched as he wiped his hands on the paper towel, the red juice creating a deep pink color. He scrunched it up and tossed it into the paper bag they were using as a make-shift trashcan. They had unpacked most of the boxes, but two still remained, one of which held the can.

 

She frowned, throwing the last couple of seeds into her mouth, “Yeah, but I’m not like most people,”

 

She hopped off of the table and walked over to the fridge, pulling out a beer. She held one up to Cole, who shook his head, before closing it, using the counter to pop off the cap. He winced.

 

“Shaw, please, its a new counter,”

 

She ignored him, taking a gulp, grimacing at the lukewarm temperature from putting the case in half an hour prior.

 

“Anyways, we don’t have food and you refuse to order pizza-”

 

“She’s bringing wine, Shaw. You can’t invite someone over for dinner, who clearly is expecting a home cooked meal, and instead give them shitty pizza,”

 

“Not our fault she assumed,”

 

“I’ll run out to the store and grab some pasta. How does that sound?” Cole asked, reaching for his keys. “Spaghetti, Gen?” he called into the living room. A cheer emerged in response and Cole smiled. “Guess that’s a yes,”

 

Shaw rolled her eyes, following him into the front hallway. “I’ll eat whatever, Cole. Just be back soon- I don’t want to have to entertain her if you take too long,”

 

Cole smiled and began to respond when a knock sounded. With a perplexed look, he opened the door. _Please don’t tell me she’s early,_ Shaw thought to herself. She let out a breath of relief when a middle-aged couple stood at the door instead.

 

“Hi there, we’re the Rens! I’m Tommy and this is Nicole, we live down the block and saw you moving in earlier today,” the man said, extending his hand to Cole. Shaw plastered a large grin- slightly aggressive- and grabbed it first, squeezing slightly.

 

“Hi, nice to meet you,” she said, making sure to speak louder than him. Cole subtly nudged her with his shoulder and took the man’s hand once she let go.

 

“Hi, I’m Michael Cole. And this is my wife, Sameen. Er, Sameen Shaw,” he introduced, careful not to make the same mistake again.

 

Tommy furrowed his brow slightly, his blue eyes squinting in slight confusion, glancing at Shaw.

 

“Sameen… That’s…”

 

“Persian,” she offered with a faux smile.

 

“Not taking your husband’s name,” the blonde woman mused, “That’s not very Iranian, is it?”

 

Shaw gave a loud laugh. “Well, you wouldn’t know, would you?” she smiled, showing all of her teeth, almost aggressively. Nicole gave an uncomfortable smile back.

 

Cole coughed. “Our daughter is probably upstairs, you’ll see her around. She’s probably tuckered out from all the un-packing. Do you have kids?”

 

Tommy motioned towards his house and nodded. “Yeah, two. Richie and Dan. They’re probably playing baseball in the yard. We should probably head back to them.”

 

Shaw clicked her teeth. “Aw, alright, well we’ll see you around,” she smiled.

 

The couple nodded uncertainty at her and Cole before descending the steps.

 

“Say, I’m heading to the market, what’s the quickest route?” Cole asked, following behind them.

 

Casting one last glance at Shaw, the Reys eased up. Shaw waved and closed the door, rolling her eyes and letting out a huff in amusement.

 

“Who was that?” Gen asked as she walked over, a carton of ice cream in her hand and a spoon in the other.

 

“Some stupid neighbors,” Shaw said, motioning for Gen to hand the spoon over. She scooped up a large bite of cookie dough ice cream and raised it to her mouth, some of the melted dessert dribbling onto the floor. Gen wiped it with her sock as she waited for Shaw to continue. “They’re idiots, don’t hang with their kids,”

 

Gen shook her head in disgust. “I heard you guys anyways, they sounded annoying. And nervous. I wasn’t gonna hang with the neighbors anyways. Except Samantha, maybe,”

 

Shaw frowned. “She’s a grown woman. Why would you wanna hang with her?”

 

Gen rolled her eyes- a trait she had long before she had met Shaw. “Bear, obviously.”

 

Shaw nodded, content with the answer. She handed the spoon back to the girl. “A few more bites. Cole’ll be back soon with dinner.”

 

Gen nodded and walked slowly into the kitchen, spooning another bite into her mouth. Shaw gave a final glance at the Reys’ house through the window and smirked.

 

* * *

 

 

“Wow, this is great,” Samantha gushed, a few bites into her meal. “Honestly, I didn’t expect a home-cooked meal after you guys had been packing- I assumed pizza. I hope I didn’t make you guys go through all this trouble for me,”

 

Shaw shot Cole a smug smile as Samantha was looking away. He rolled his eyes before turning his attention to Samantha again. “It was no trouble at all. Just boiling some water and _voilá_!” Samantha smiled. “So Sam, you know I’m an FBI agent, so what about you? Do you work?”

 

Samantha took a small sip of wine before she responded. “I work for a computer coding company in the city,”

 

“Computers, huh? I work with computers sometimes too,” Cole responded. Samantha raised her eyebrows in interest.

 

“What a coincidence,” she smiled. Shaw fought the urge to roll her eyes- were all of her neighbors such dopes? “And what do you do, Sameen?” Samantha’s eyes lit up. “Hey, I’m Sam and you’re Sam! How funny is that?”

 

Shaw took a large bite of her pasta. “Call me Shaw,” she responded gruffly. Gen nudged her with her foot. “I used to work with Cole- that’s how we met. But then I stopped,” she added, begrudgingly. 

 

Samantha motioned to Gen. “To take care of her? Or?”

 

“I can take care of myself,” Gen stated. Samantha stared at Shaw for a couple of moments until it was clear that Shaw wasn’t going to answer her original question. Finally, she looked at Gen.

 

Shaw had worked at the FBI for several years, training to become an agent. No one could deny that she was good at her job, probably even better than all of the men working there. It was likely she was going to be a field agent, up until 1979.

 

After that, her promotion became a demotion, place her in a secretarial job. Soon after that, she was let go. “Too many ties too Iran,” Wilson, her boss, had explained, as if that was an answer.

 

“How old are you, Gen?”

 

“Eleven,”

 

“She’ll be twelve next month,” Cole added with a proud smile.

 

Samantha smiled. “Gen? Is that short for Jennifer?”

 

Gen looked over at Shaw, who gave a warning look, before responding. “No,”

 

Samantha cocked her head in confusion and gave a slight laugh. “No? What’s it short for, not-Jennifer?”

 

Shaw cleared her throat and answered before Gen could. “Genrika. That’s what it’s short for.”

 

Samantha nodded slowly, her eyes flitting between Shaw and the young girl. “Genrika,” she said slowly. “That’s an… interesting name,”

 

Cole cleared his throat. “Yeah, we adopted her a bit over a year ago. From a case I was working?”

 

Samantha’s head shot to him. “A case you were working?”

 

“Yeah. I’m in the Counter-Intelligence team,”

 

Shaw frowned as she watched Samantha grin, only to quickly hide it. “So, like, the Soviets?” she asked carefully, after a couple of moments.

 

Cole nodded. “Yeah, I guess that includes them, yeah.”

 

“My mom was a spy,” Gen piped up. Samantha turned to her.

 

“Wow, that’s really something,”

 

Shaw placed a protective arm over her chair. “Yeah, well, she’s not,”

 

Samantha nodded quickly, “Oh yeah, of course.” She turned to look at Gen. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply or make you uncomfortable,”

 

Gen shrugged. “It’s fine, I wasn’t.”

 

A quiet fell upon the table, the only sound being the forks scraping over the plates. Samantha looked around uncomfortably before stifling a yawn. “Man, I’m really tired, I should go,”

 

Cole looked up from his plate with a frown, “Oh, are you sure?”

 

Their neighbor smiled and shook her head. “It’s been a long day, plus Bear probably misses me. I imagine you’re also pretty beat- unpacking is exhausting if I remember correctly,”

 

Shaw nodded. _The first agreeable thing this woman has said all night,_ Shaw thought before adding on. “Plus Michael here has to work early tomorrow. First day and all,”

 

Samantha smiled as she stood up. “How exciting. I hope it goes well,” she said. Cole quickly began to hand her the bottle of wine, to which she refused, shaking her head. “Keep it- a home warming present. I have far more than I need at home,”

 

“We’ll walk you to the door,” Cole offered. The four of them awkwardly shuffled down the hall, not looking at each other.

 

“Gen, feel free to come over to hang out with Bear anytime. I’m sure he’d love the company- he gets lonely when I’m at work, and I think he misses Jason,”

 

Gen nodded, smiling up at her. Samantha smiled back.

 

“Well, I’ll see you around, neighbors,” she said, slipping out of the door that Cole held open for her.

 

“See you,” Cole replied.

 

Cole and Gen waved as he shut the door. He turned around after locking it to face Shaw.

 

“She’s weird,” Shaw stated.

 

“She’s a bit off, I guess. But you were also hostile to her,” 

 

Shaw shrugged, knitting her brows in confusion. “Yeah, but I’m hostile to everyone, what’s your point?”

 

“I don’t know, I like her, she’s nice,” he said, walking to the kitchen.

 

“I like her too,” Gen agreed.

 

Shaw scoffed. “You like Bear,”

 

“And her too,” Gen persisted.

 

“Wasn’t she too nosy?” Shaw persisted, following behind Cole. She was getting frustrated. There was something off about this woman- something about her that had been bugging her since she caught her staring from her bedroom window at the crack of dawn- but she couldn’t put her finger on it, not yet.

 

“She was curious,” Cole replied, turning on the water to wash the pots in the sink. Shaw began to collect the plates on the table and bring them over.

 

“She was nice about my mom, too,” Gen said, “She wasn’t weird to me about it,”

 

Shaw sighed, giving up. “Yeah, I guess,” she grumbled.

 

She looked out the kitchen through the curtains, watching the woman unlock her door. Suddenly she turned around to look back at Shaw’s house, staring right at her through the window. Shaw quickly turned away, taking a peek a few moments later, watching the lights slowly click on throughout the first floor as the woman walked through her house.

 

Shaw sighed, drawing back the curtains. Maybe she was being too paranoid.

 

* * *

 

“He’s an FBI agent, Zoe,” Root said excitedly, turning to her handler in the shotgun seat of the parked car. “They invited me over to dinner and everything. You can’t move me out now,”

 

“You had dinner with them? Root, you knew you might be leaving soon, why would you make that connection?” Zoe asked with a frown.

 

“Ugh,” Root groaned in frustration. “Look, Zo’, they approached me. This is perfect- we haven’t had this perfect of a chance in years. He likes me, the kid likes me, the wife will like me- its perfect! Let me stay.

 

Zoe stared ahead out the window, letting out a sigh. She thought for a moment, feeling the burn of Root’s gaze.

 

“Fine,” she said finally. “I’ll talk to them. I can’t guarantee anything,”

 

Root smiled smugly. “It’s perfect Zoe, and you know it. It’ll work out,”

 

Zoe shook her head. “If it does, you better really work him. Your cover is a whole lot shakier now that your husband died from gunshot wounds,”

 

“It was classified as a mugging,” Root dismissed, waving her hand. She smiled, thinking of the family across the street. “And don’t worry your pretty little head. It’ll be a piece of cake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again i hope you enjoyed
> 
> lmk any critiques or ideas etc
> 
> it has a good amount of dialogue rn tbh so if thats not you're thing it'll lessen in like two or whatever chapters dont stress lol
> 
> also feel free to hmu at flushed-asian on tumblr


	3. The Companion / Kompan'on

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol i watched the finale and i am dead inside
> 
> not a huge fan of how it wrapped up but aw oh no it is over
> 
> anyways, thank u for kudoses(?) and bookmarks lol
> 
> enjoy!

Her footsteps made muted thumps against the pavement as she jogged through her neighborhood. It was early- a bit past five forty-five- and just the way Shaw liked it- the cool wind hitting her face as she attempted to break her best time. For weeks she had been stuck at a seven minute and forty three second mile, and no matter how many runs could she break it.

 

Soft footsteps sounded behind her, slowly catching up. Tensing her shoulders just in case, Shaw continued to jog. While it was known as a safe neighborhood, it was better safe than sorry. Plus, she wouldn’t mind punching someone at the moment- especially one of her neighbors.

 

“Howdy, neighbor,” a voice panted from behind. Shaw clenched her jaw in annoyance- it just had to be Samantha. 

 

“Didn’t know I moved down South,” she replied sarcastically, picking up the pace. Samantha laughed breathily, running faster to run on the right side of Shaw.

 

“We’re in Virginia, Sameen. That’s pretty southern, if you ask me,”

 

“Shaw,” she corrected gruffly.

 

“Gotcha, Sameen,” Samantha replied with a patronizing smile. Shaw sped up. “Well, aren’t you going pretty fast?”

 

Shaw smirked. “Can’t keep up?”

 

Samantha shook her head. “Didn’t say that,” she said, her voice straining as she pushed herself harder.

 

The two women ran several laps throughout the boundaries of their neighborhood in a comfortable silence. It was a nice neighborhood, if a little bland. Though anything beat the old house she, Cole, and Gen had lived in before- the water damage from the apartment above rotted over their heads in the corner of the bedroom they all shared and the landlord couldn’t have cared less. Everyone was glad when Cole’s promotion had come in, relocating them from the city.

 

The women continued the laps, both deep in thought. Shaw had to admit she was impressed- Samantha was actually doing a pretty good job for some computer nerd who sat at a desk all day. Still, she wasn’t going to let her do better than her.

 

It was as if someone had shoved a broken bottle down her throat and into her lungs, but Shaw paid no mind. She sprinted down the block to complete her the last lap, her feet pounding on the pavement echoing throughout the streets of the quiet neighborhood. She listened to Samantha’s heavy panting right behind her, her hands a blur as they struggled to propel her body past the smaller woman. With each step, Samantha’s breaths grew softer, and Shaw finally passed by the mailbox that marked the start and end of the lap. She clicked the button on her stop-watch without looking at the time, instead watching the other runner. A few seconds later, Samantha jogged up to her, odd strands of hair sticking out of the scrunchie as if she had shocked herself.

 

“You win,” Samantha forced out, bent over as she tried to catch her breath. Her ribs shook as she greedily took in air. “I taste iron,”

 

Shaw barked out a laugh, leaning her hand on the mailbox for support. “Yeah, running’ll do that to you, tomato,” she wheezed.

 

Samantha groaned, sloppily throwing up a hand to cover her face. “Ugh, I get so red,”

 

The neighbors stayed there for a few minutes, catching their breath.

 

“How far did we run?” Samantha asked, slowly standing up. She held her forehead with her hand as she pulled out her scrunchie, a dizzy feeling sweeping over her as the blood rushed into her head. She blindly grasped for the mailbox for support, clutching onto the edge.

 

“Five-k,” Shaw replied, taking a long gulp from the water bottle she had set by the mailbox before her run. Noticing Samantha’s blank expression, she clarified. “About three miles.”

 

Samantha nodded, turning to look at the sky as Shaw approached her from her side. “Water?” she asked, holding out the bottle. Samantha ignored her, still squinting her eyes at the sky. “Water?” she repeated, this time more aggressively. She was finally being nice and now Samantha decides to ignore her? “Alright, whatever,” she huffed, turning around sharply walking a bit away in embarrassment.

 

Samantha turned her head with a confused look. “Hm?”

 

Shaw frowned. “I asked if you wanted water,” she mumbled, motioning at where she stood a few seconds ago.

 

Samantha stared at her for a few seconds before started to laugh. Shaw’s ears burned, her eyes narrowing.

 

“Oh, Shaw,” she smiled, tilting her head, “I’m deaf in my right ear,”

 

“Oh.” That was something that Shaw didn’t expect. She rubbed her neck. “I didn’t realize,”

 

Samantha shook her head. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Just stand on my left from now on, yeah,”

 

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Shaw mumbled, still feeling uncomfortable. She didn’t care that she was unnecessarily mean, but that she was wrong. Being incorrect was an unfamiliar feeling.

 

Samantha took the water from her still out-stretched hand. “Thanks,” she said, taking in large gulps. She exhaled after she finished, handing the almost-empty bottle back. “I don’t remember the last time I was this out of breath,” she said. A wide smile grew on her lips and she stared at Shaw. “Oh, wait. I remember now,” her right eye twitching. Shaw stared at her in confusion until realizing that twitch was a poor attempt at a flirtatious wink. She gritted her teeth and turned away. 

 

Samantha pattered her gently on the shoulder, folding the other woman’s fingers around the bottle in her hand. “I’m gonna go take a shower, but thanks for the run.”

 

“Yeah, sure,” Shaw replied, not looking at her, gripping the bottle more steadily.

 

“See you,” Samantha called, as she began to walk towards her house. Shaw watched her for a few moments before turning to do the same.

 

Shaw suddenly remembered to check her watch. _23:33_ , it read. Shaw stood in place for a few moments calculating her new time. A victorious smile spread across her face, she had beat her time at seven thirty-four. _Maybe Samantha isn’t all that useless_ , she reasoned, unlocking the door and heading into her house.

 

* * *

 

Root froze at the sound of shuffling feet in her kitchen. Quietly closing the door behind her and locking it, she reached for the envelope opener left at the table by the entrance. Clutching it in her hand, she stalked towards the source of the noise, keeping distance from the spots on the floor prone to squeak.

 

Root looked around with a frown, something wasn’t right. _Where the hell is Bear?_ she thought, gripping the handle harder, raising it slightly above her head, ready to strike. Her breath caught at the sound of a drawer being rattled open and she flung herself into the kitchen.

 

“Harper!” she yelled in frustration, throwing down the makeshift weapon onto the table. “Jesus Christ, call next time,”

 

Her friend turned around to face her. “I did but you weren’t home,” she pouted.

 

Root glanced at the clock on the wall. “I was gone for less than thirty minutes. That’s how long it takes from you to get here from your flat. Did you only try once?”

 

“I called twice,” she defended, before admitting sheephisly, “Like immediately after each other, though,”

 

Root groaned, stomping over to the fridge, pulling out the water pitcher. Harper handed her a glass. “I missed you,” she whined. Then she frowned as she thought a bit more, adding, “Even though you stink. Please wash up,”

 

Root raised an eyebrow at the woman as she downed the glass, pouring herself a second one. “You wouldn’t have had to deal with me like this if you had waited to come over,”

 

Harper looked the disheveled woman up and down. “Why were you running anyways?”

 

“I always run in the mornings. Gotta stay in shape for this job. Plus, I got to bond with a target,” Root replied, wriggling her eyebrows.

 

“Whatever,” Harper shrugged, handing her an apple. She nodded her head at it. “Keeps the doctors away,”

 

Root took it, washing it under the sink. “How nice,” she murmured, taking a large bite. She wolfed it down, starving from her run with Shaw. She nodded out the window. “Where’s your car?”

 

“Stashed it half a mile down, just like you taught me. I walked the rest,”

 

Root hummed in approval as she chewed. “I could teach you a lot more,” she offered, wiggling her eyebrows.

 

Harper laughed. “I don’t need to be apart of your Commie business to learn, you know that,”

 

Root sighed. “It would be much easier,”

 

“For you, maybe, to get Zoe off your back.”

 

Root frowned. “Zoe isn’t on my back, I already recruited two people,”

 

Harper shrugged, “Yeah, but not me. And I know too much,” she teased, taking a pear from the fruit bowl on the table, handing it over to Root. Root ran it under the water, before passing it back to her.

 

Root grinned. “You say this now, but soon you’ll be one of us, I know it,”

 

“Sure, sure,” Harper replied, showing off a mouth full of pear. Root scrunched her nose in disgust.

 

“I’m gonna go shower, you gonna stay?” Root asked as she scooted by the other woman. Harper nodded.

 

“Yeah, I’ll watch TV as I wait,” she replied, following her out of the room. Root nodded, heading upstairs.

 

* * *

 

The two women sat on the couch together, a bowl of chips nestled between them.

 

“Why are you here?” Root asked suddenly, muting the television. She cut her off before Harper could start, adding, “Other than you missing me,”

 

Harper closed her mouth and stared at her for a few moments. “Jason just died,” she responded. “I knew you weren’t close, but still. He was your partner for over three years.”

 

Root nodded. “Yeah, yeah he was,”

 

Harper looked at her curiously. “What happened?”

 

Root sighed, running a hand through her hair. She stared at a spot on the wall where the paint was just beginning to peel as she thought of how to phrase the events. “We were on a mission- undercover- tasked with grabbing some guy. We weren’t thorough enough and it seemed he had a few weapons hidden that we didn’t find,”

 

Harper cocked her head. “Where were they?”

 

Root laughed. “The blade was in his shoe, but the gun in his pants. Imagine having a gun going off down there. What an idiot.”

 

Harper frowned at the other woman’s liveliness. Root shook her head.

 

“Jason meant well, but he was…” Root struggled to find the right words. “Ridiculous. Stupid. Far-fetched. We were fighting that day, actually. He wanted to leave, but he also didn’t want to get me in trouble. I didn’t care but he did. He wasn’t dedicated enough to his plan or the cause.”

 

Harper raised her eyebrows. “And you’re dedicated to the cause?”

 

Root laughed. “God, no, I’m not. But right now, this is my job, so I’ll do it until I see fit. He was too messy, too full of contradictions. He was just annoying.” Harper stared at her. Root sighed- not even she knew how to fully articulate her thoughts on Jason. “Look, I’ll miss him as an agent. And he was a nice guy. But we never clicked, we were too different, and I don’t care all that much that he’s dead. I’m better on my own anyways,”

 

“If you’re better on your own, then why am I here?” Harper challenged.

 

“I’m recruiting you, remember?” Root teased. Harper lightly hit her and laughed, shaking her head. As Harper looked away, Root’s smile fell. It started out as a way to use Harper’s resources, but slowly Root began to find a connection with the other woman.

 

Root frowned, her head swarming. She couldn’t focus.

 

“Here, I need to get back to work, but I can drive you to your car if you want.”

 

Harper shook her head, shrugging on her leather jacket. “Nah, it’s alright. Its a nice day out, plus it’s always fun to make your neighbors uncomfortable,”

 

Root shook her head in amusement. “Stay safe,” she said, walking her to the front hallway. Harper grinned.

 

“I can’t promise anything, you know that,” she teased before ducking out of the door.

 

Root watched her walk down the street, a small frown etching onto her face. _Drive you to the car?_ she asked herself. She couldn’t tell if that was a way to get Harper to like her more in order to benefit the Union or to benefit herself in a way of friendship. She shook her head. It was so much easier being alone, she decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> root cant wink for shit i love it


	4. The Party / Vecherinka

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shaw is let in on an important secret.
> 
> Root meets up with Zoe again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol i think i said i'd update like every other night but whoops ive forgotten to
> 
> so here it is
> 
> thank you all for the comments and kudos and bookmarks it is all very appreciated

“Are you sure you don’t want to invite one of your friends? Sam, maybe?” Cole asked. Shaw rolled her eyes, plunking the six-pack on the living room table. Cole came up behind her, hands carefully pulling out and placing the bottles in a neat arrangement. Shaw shook her head and strolled back into the kitchen.

 

“Samantha is not my friend,” she stated, pouring a bag of chips into a large bowl. She popped one into her mouth, rubbing her fingers on the dishcloth to wipe away the grease. “And I like your work friends.”

 

Cole frowned, taking the bowl from her to place it neatly on the table in the other room. “If that’s what you want…” he trailed off. The door-bell rung, announcing the first guest.

 

“It’s what I want,” Shaw repeated firmly, heading to the front door. Outside stood Reese, an old-time friend and coworker.

 

“Shaw,” he greeted with a respectful nod. Cole emerged into view, sporting a wide grin.

 

“John, hey,” he said, shaking Reese’s hand. “Come in, come in,” he ushered. Reese gave a small smile.

 

“Hello, Cole. Nice house,” he said, looking around.

 

The sound of thumping drew closer as Gen bounded up to the tall man. “Uncle John,” she exclaimed, hugging him. Her arms were still too short to fully wrap around his body. Reese had been apart of Gen’s life since she was adopted by Cole and Shaw. The man had trained with Shaw for the FBI and had been promoted while she was demoted, now working in the same branch as Cole.

 

“Hey, Gen. How do you like the new place?” he asked, bending down once she released him to get to eye-level with the small girl.

 

She shrugged. “It’s cool. The neighbor has a dog,”

 

Reese shot an amused glance towards Shaw. “A dog, huh?”

 

Shaw nodded. “Here, I’ll get you a beer, come on,”

 

Reese gave Cole and Gen one last smile before following the small woman into the living room.

 

“Nice outfit,” she deadpanned. “Very casual,”

 

Reese looked down at his trademark suit. “What can I say? I’m a casual guy.” He leaned in, glancing around before continuing. “Me and Finch have to speak to you about something later today. Away from Cole,”

 

Shaw furrowed her brow. “Finch?” she asked. The last she saw, Finch was some nerdy IT guy at the Center. He was quiet and kept to himself, though sometimes hung around Reese. “Yeah, okay. What about?”

 

The doorbell rung again.

 

“I’ll get it,” Cole announced from the kitchen. Shaw and Reese watched him rush through the hallway to the door, sharing a smirk.

 

“Patience, Shaw,” he teased. “But I have a feeling you’ll wanna say yes,”

 

“Joss!” Cole exclaimed from the other room. “Come in, come in,”

 

Shaw smirked at Reese’s reaction- his head snapped up, quickly brushing off his jacket of any dust. For that, she received a quick glare.

 

“Carter,” he greeted casually, giving her a small nod. “Didn’t know you were coming,”

 

“Hey, Carter,” Shaw waved, reaching over to pass her a beer. Carter shook her head, adding a small “hi,” and “thanks, though,” before turning back to Reese. Shaw shrugged and popped the cap off, taking a large swig.

 

“I didn’t know either- Taylor’s dad only told me he was free an hour ago. And I just had to see how Shaw decided to decorate the place. I expected more skull and bones imagery but I understand, you just moved in,” she joked, smiling at the smaller woman.

 

“Give me a month with the place,” Shaw promised. Joss laughed.

 

* * *

 

Half an hour later and the living room was filled with FBI agents of various rankings. Shaw hated it.

 

Shaw didn’t care if they hated her. In fact, she rather liked it, allowing her to be able to justify to Cole her various ways of making them uncomfortable (her favorite time was when she spoke Farsi to Gen in front of Cole’s boss, Wilson’s, wife. It was clear Wilson liked to play up details about Iranians from the way she began to look around nervously.)

 

But it was fair, Shaw supposed. At the start of buying the house it had been decided that Cole would take the living room and Shaw would take the bedroom. So if he wanted people to be in his room, that technically was okay.

 

But people were wandering in and out of the bathroom and kitchen, and that was neutral territory. That had be some violation of the rules they had decided upon.  Plus she couldn’t even hole up in her room or go out. Instead she was stuck being the wife. Worse yet, the  _good_ wife.

 

“So, Sam-”

 

“Sameen,” she interrupted. Usually she preferred Sam, but this was worth it.

 

“Er, Sam _een,_ ” Wilson corrected uncertainly. Shaw shot him an encouraging look. “So, what do you think of Iran?”

 

Cole’s fingers gently squeezed her side, reminding her to play nice. “Well,” she started, forcing a smile. “Absolutely…” she continued smiling as she racked her brain for a way to reply. “Just wow,” she decided, wincing as the words came out of her mouth. She cursed herself for coming up blank. Out of the corner of her eyes she watched Cole’s shoulders deflate slightly.

 

“‘Just wow’?” Wilson asked in disbelief.

 

At that moment Carter appeared, grabbing Shaw’s forearm. “I’m sorry, I need to borrow her for a sec,”

 

“Nice talking to you,” she added awkwardly before following her friend. Cole closed his eyes and took a breath before turning back to his boss.

 

“Thank god you saved me, Carter. I was ready to shove this pizza bite down his throat,”

 

Carter laughed. “Yeah, well, you’re about to thank me more. Come on,” she said, walking through the house. The sound of the guests’ voices faded as they went deeper.

 

“How the hell do you know my house so well? I don’t even know it that well,” she marveled as the other woman led her to the door that went down into the basement. The door was slightly ajar, and Shaw, after glancing at Carter for confirmation, pushed through, slowly walked down the steps. A faint click sounded as Carter closed it gently behind them.

 

“I believe I’m the one to answer that, Ms. Shaw,” a voice replied. Shaw frowned, staring at the man sitting in front of her.

 

“Finch?” she asked, her eyebrows knitting together. She shot a confused look at Carter, who nodded encouragingly in response.

 

“I studied the blueprints before arrival. I needed to find a secluded spot for us to speak,” he explained, adjusting his glasses.

 

Shaw narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on?”

 

“Hey Shaw,” Reese greeted, stepping out from behind the washing machine and dryer. “Remember that thing I was telling you about earlier? Well, this is it,”

 

Shaw glanced at Carter again. “They’re so dramatic,” Carter huffed, rolling her eyes. “Just tell her,” she urged.

 

Reese smiled slightly at her comment before focusing again on Shaw. “Alright, Shaw. How would you like to put your skills to the test for a better America?”

 

“Save the patriotism, Reese,” Shaw scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You’re gonna have to do better than that,”

 

“I’ve seen your file, Ms. Shaw. You were on your way to becoming an FBI agent. The best out of all the other recruits,” Finch said. “Unfortunately, due to poor timing, that could never be achieved.”

 

“Yeah, instead I was demoted to secretary, then fired. Why is this important?” Shaw continued impatiently.

 

“It’s important because we need your help. We’re in need of an agent. You, Shaw,” Reese said.

 

“I designed a program to help the FBI better identify potential Russian spies or Soviet sympathizers. However, the way the FBI has handled these people is completely wrong. They have denied these people of their most basic liberties in order to find out information. Its barbaric, what they do to them,” Finch began.

 

“How do you know this?” Shaw asked.

 

Finch blushed a bit. “I may have hacked into the computers to find the files on the people found by the program. And also have bugged the office,”

 

Shaw barked out a laugh. She remembered Finch from her days training for the FBI. He was always so in-line that this small act of defiance seemed so ridiculous to her.

 

“Alright, so where do I fit into this?” she asked, amused.

 

“We’re rescuing people who are being targeted by the FBI, setting them up somewhere else where they can live safely,” Reese stated. “Whether they are or aren’t actually spies or sympathizers,”

 

Shaw stared at Carter. “And you’re okay with this? Breaking the law?”

 

Carter shrugged. “I like to think of myself as having good moral standing,”

 

“I don’t know. Cole is in the FBI, I don’t want to run into him and have to shoot him.” Shaw knitted her eyebrows in uncertainty. “And what if we get caught? I have Gen to look out for- her mom was a Russian spy, for chirssakes. She was lucky not getting tied to that the first time, but if I- a Persian- am found out, it won’t look too good for her,”

 

“I didn’t realize you were capable of caring, Shaw,” Reese teased lightly.

 

Shaw stared daggers at him. “Genrika is my responsibility,” she seethed. He nodded apologetically, looking away in embarrassment.

 

Finch cleared his throat. “Ms. Shaw, I understand if you’re worried about what could go wrong. But we can protect you. And there are people out there who need you. People who are in grave danger that only you can save,”

 

Shaw sighed, looking around the room. Carter sent her a sympathetic look. Reese shrugged.

 

“Yeah,” she decided. “Yeah, okay.”

 

Finch gave her a small smile. “That’s wonderful to hear,”

 

“Who else is apart of this? What protections do you offer?”

 

“If I can hack the FBI database, I can most certainly create you a new identity for your family if need be,” Finch said with a wry smile. “And as for our team, it’s just us. And Mr. Fusco,”

 

“Who?”

 

“Lionel Fusco? He trained with you, I believe, back in ’79?”

 

Shaw wrinkled her nose. “Him? How does he help?” Every class he was always such a kiss-ass to the instructor, yet still found a way to fail every exam.

 

Reese snickered while Finch shot him a disapproving look. “While quite, er, _gray_ , at first, Mr. Fusco has proven to be a valuable member of the team, gathering intel with John at the office,” he defended.

 

“As we, of course, blackmail him,” Reese added with a snort. “It turns out his days at the police academy weren’t as good as he said they were. We may have reminded him of a couple of bribing incidents,”

 

“No surprise there,” Shaw remarked, rolling her eyes. She glanced at the stairs leading to the main floor. “I better head out soon, it probably doesn’t look too good for me to be gone so long,”

 

“What a bad hostess you are, Shaw,” Reese joked. Shaw leaned over to punch him in the shoulder. He winced, rubbing at his arm.

 

“How does this thing work? How do I know who to follow or save or whatever?”

 

“Mr. Reese or Ms. Carter will visit you with the details. The program usually names someone once a week, so that’s how often our missions will occur,” Finch said.

 

“And Cole? What about him?”

 

“We would ask that you refrain from telling him of this situation. Its dire that we keep this group on a very small level to lessen the risk of exposure,”

 

Shaw nodded. It’s not like they were really married, anyways.

 

“I’ll leave my purse here so I have a reason to come over tomorrow,” Carter said. “When is Cole out for work?”

 

“Eight to six,” Shaw replied. “I’ve gotta pick Gen up from school at three, though, so come before two- thirty,”

 

Carter smiled. “I was gonna say the same thing, I have to pick Taylor up, too,”

 

Finch adjusted his glasses. “I think we better exit one by one. Ms. Shaw, why don’t you go first?”

 

Shaw nodded. “I’ll see you around, then,” she said as she ascended the stairs.

 

Shaw grinned once out of sight. It had been ages since she got to do anything exciting, staying at home while Cole went to work. She’d make sure she’d get to use her guns again.

 

She discreetly exited the basement, finding Cole again in the crowd of FBI agents.

 

“Hey,” he greeted, looking around, “Where’d you go?”

 

She shrugged nonchalantly. “Just talking with some friends,”

 

He gave her an encouraging smile. “Shaw, that’s great,”

 

Shaw gave a distracted smile back, her eyes scanning the room, looking at each of the FBI agents. “Yeah, great,” she echoed.

 

* * *

 

Root slid the pictures across the table to Zoe. “I told you they would be a gold mine. The husband, Cole, had a party last night and invited practically the entire FBI agency,”

 

Zoe glanced at her. “Stop being so dramatic,” she replied, going back to thumbing through the photographs.

 

Root rolled her eyes. “He invited _a lot_ of agents, whatever. This’ll make finding them a lot easier now, especially if they’re tailing one of ours,”

 

Zoe held out a photograph to her. “What do you think about him?”

 

Root studied the man carefully. “He looks boring,” she decided, wrinkling her nose. “Who wears a suit to a get-together? Everyone else is in polos or at most a button-up,”

 

“He’s handsome,” Zoe sang, wriggling her eyebrows.

 

“Too handsome,” Root countered.

 

“Unmarried,” she said, tapping at his ringless hand. Root shrugged. “He looks important. I’m going to see what I can get from him,”

 

“Everyone’s important there, it’s an FBI party,” Root pointed out, rolling her eyes. “You just wanna get under him,”

 

“Under? Why not over?” Zoe teased back, beginning to stand up. She folded the photo, tucking it into her purse. “Invite the Coles over for dinner or something. Learn more about them.”

 

“Shaw,” Root replied suddenly. Zoe tilted her head in confusion. “I mean, the wife. She didn’t take his last name,” Root explained quickly, a blush rising over her cheeks. Why did she care enough to correct Zoe?

 

“Yeah, whatever, the Shaws, the Coles, whatever. Invite them over. Bug their house. Et cetera. You know what to do,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. She started walking to the door. “I’ll come over in two days, same time. Get something more for me,”

 

Root listened as the door slammed shut, the lock clicking in place. She nodded to herself as she began thinking of ways to bug her neighbors.

 

Her eyes lit up as an idea came across her, her gaze drifting over to the sleeping dog a few feet over.

 

“Hey, Bear,” she cooed. He lifted his head up. “How would you like to help me out?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you all enjoyed! i'll update soon dw


	5. The Beginning / Nachalo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shaw gets tasked with a mission.
> 
> Root gets an opportunity to get closer to her mark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for the comments! it's so nice lol i hope i'm living up to them

“So what’s the deal with Michael and you?” Carter asked, turning a wedding photo over in her hands. She held it up pointing at a woman standing behind Shaw. “Your mom?”

 

“Nah, she was in Iran,” Shaw shrugged, taking a bite of her sandwich. Her feet dangled off the counter she sat on. “Cole’s family friend,”

 

Carter squinted her eyes at the woman, nodding slowly at the lack of resemblance. “Why didn’t you invite her?”

 

“Wasn’t important enough. All she’d do would complain about how I was doing it wrong. ‘Where’s the _ayné va shamdoon_ , Sameen?’” Shaw mimicked in a higher-pitched voice. Crumbs fell from her mouth, dusting her thighs, the tan specks in contrasting against her pitch-black jeans. “Mirror and candlesticks- its a tradition,” she clarified, brushing them off. Carter nodded.

 

“Well, why no tradition?” Carter asked, walking over to sit in the chair across from Shaw.

 

“Like I said, it wasn’t important enough. They symbolize things that Cole and I aren’t having in our marriage. It wouldn’t make sense.”

 

“So, what is the deal with Michael and you?” Carter asked again, raising her eyebrow.

 

“I don’t know, it was mainly out of convenience. We trained together, we’re friends, I guess. And then things happened, and nobody knew what would happen next for Iran so just in case, we got married.”

 

“But what if you fall in love with someone else? Or he does?” Carter pressed.

 

“I don’t really get feelings,” Shaw said, struggling to find the words. This was weird, too vulnerable for her. _Carter always was able to make things personal,_ Shaw thought, remembering their first meeting at the office, right after Shaw had been demoted. Some coworker had decided to make Shaw’s life hell there and before Shaw could react, Carter swooped in to yell at the guy, so much that he began to physically back away in fear. They became fast friends after that.

 

She began twisting the napkin from her finished sandwich in her hands. “I don’t have to worry about falling in love. I won’t.”

 

“I see,” Carter said, slowly nodding. Shaw grimaced- Carter really didn’t.

 

“I have Axis II Personality Disorder,” Shaw blurted out. No one ever understood what she meant. Usually she didn’t care if some stranger thought her to be weird, but this Carter. She hated this. “I don’t have feelings, really. Some, I guess, but not really.”

 

Carter nodded. “Okay,” she responded simply.

 

Shaw exhaled. At least she wasn’t making a big deal out of it, even if she didn’t get it.

 

“And Cole knows this? He knows what to expect of this marriage?”

 

“Yeah, I mean, we discussed this when we decided to get married. I don’t care if he wants to see other people, and he doesn’t care if I have hook-ups.”

 

“So he’s not secretly in-love with you or anything?” Carter asked, smiling.

 

Shaw shook her head. “God, no. That would suck. I mean, really suck,” she said. She hoped not, at least. She’d be mad if he was. “He’s not that stupid,” she said, assuring Carter and herself at the same time.

 

“And what about Gen?”

 

“Gen knows. She says I have my feelings tuned down- maybe she’s right- but she’s fine with the sham marriage.” Shaw shrugged, tossing the wadded-up napkin into the trashcan a few feet away. “Speaking of,” she said, clearing her throat, “We should actually discuss the mission before I have to pick her up from school,”

 

Carter nodded, rummaging through her purse. She pulled out a file and opened it, turning it towards the smaller woman. Shaw hopped off of the counter and leaned on the kitchen table, scanning the documents within.

 

“Daniel Casey,” she murmured to herself, looking at the grainy photograph. A man was glancing behind his shoulder, a cap pulled over his face, yet his features were still visible. She held it up. “Who took this?”

 

“Hersh,”

 

“Shit, they’re on him already?” Shaw asked, glancing up at the other woman. He was one of Cole’s higher-ups. If he was on it, they didn’t have much time. “Okay, what do we do?”  


“Finch wants us to get him to some safe house he has set-up. He’s working out a new identity for him as we speak.”

 

Shaw frowned. “Wait, but what if he really is a spy and the program was right?”

 

“The program doesn’t determine if someone actually is a spy or not- it just sees trends and its up to the agents to find out themselves. But usually its do first, ask questions later. It doesn’t matter if he is or isn’t a spy, he still deserves his basic human rights,” Carter explained.

 

“Jeez, why’d Finch make this program again?” Shaw grumbled.

 

“Try saying no to some very powerful people. Plus, he didn’t realize how badly the information could be used.” Carter said.

 

Shaw shrugged, a smile tugging at her lips. “Yeah, whatever. As long as I get to use a gun, I’ll do whatever you guys want.”

 

Carter rolled her eyes. “Love the commitment,” she commented dryly. She began to stand up. “He hangs out at a bar on fourth and Washington most nights. The Pearl.”

 

Shaw nodded, following her to the door. “I’ll check it out,” she confirmed. Carter smiled and left the house, leaving Shaw alone.

 

She checked the clock- she had time to clean her guns before Gen had to be picked up. She climbed the stairs to her bedroom, lowering herself to the ground next to the bed. She reached around beneath the springs until feeling the familiar cool metal of the handle of her Browning BDA. She carefully tugged it down, the tape holding it up making a muffled ripping noise. She reached under the bed again to grab her second gun, a Beretta 21A Bobcat, ripping down from above as well.

 

She thumbed the Bobcat’s grip, frowning at the sticky residue the tape had left. She picked up the guns and walked over to the bathroom, turning on the faucet to wet a paper towel, gently scrubbing.

 

Once content it was all gone, she wandered downstairs to the dining room table to begin cleaning the weapons. She smirked as she imagined Cole’s reaction- he didn’t even like her leaving her pocketknife around.

 

He was a pretty good guy and she liked him a lot, despite the amount of teasing she gave him. Not everyone would have done what he did in return for nothing. He was a nice guy, always wanting to help everyone, which had it’s ups-and-downs. She got to meet Gen, who was already a genius at eleven, but she also had to put up with his incessant asking of her to hang out with Samantha again. Instead of quelling his pleas to hang out after she mentioned them running together, it seemed to make him bug her more about it.

 

But Samantha was too nosy- not uncommon was it for her to catch her peering out of her bedroom window like some pervert, or have her drop off their mail when she walked by (though helpful- something Shaw would never admit aloud- as then she didn’t have to get it herself.)

 

She put down her cloth, having finished cleaning. She missed it- it was a welcome distraction, allowing her to let her mind wander for however many minutes. Not many things did that for her, and the few things that did were usually intruded on, such as her morning runs. A bitter feeling washed over her, thinking back to Samantha’s intrusion. She shook her head, dragging the chair over by the cabinet. She cautiously stepped on it, placing the guns out of sight on top. She returned the chair to it’s usual position.

 

Shaw checked the clock. It was time for her to pick up Gen.

 

* * *

 

“What do you mean, ‘going out’? Going out where?” Cole’s voice sounded through the telephone. Though faceless, Shaw could see his expression- his eyebrows knitted together, mouth slightly agape.

 

“To the city,” she replied vaguely. “I’ll leave after you get in so Gen isn’t home alone, don’t worry,”

 

“Yeah, but where?”

 

“A bar, I guess?” It wasn’t a lie.

 

“A bar? Say, what if we went together?” Cole asked, his voice picking up in excitement. Shaw pursed her lips in annoyance but couldn’t be outright rude to him- the past few days she’d been acting too harsh- at least according to Gen.

 

“What about Gen?” she stalled.

 

“A babysitter. Or Sam’s- she did say she was welcome over anytime and I’m sure she’d love the company,” he replied. He lowered his voice, “C’mon, Shaw, I know we’re not a real couple, but we still are friends, yeah? Let’s just hang out without having to filter anything in front of the kid,”

 

Shaw fiddled with the threads on the curtains of the window as she looked out. She had missed hanging out with Cole, but she couldn’t, not tonight. “Ahh, I can’t. Not now,” she said, racking her brain for an excuse. “I’m actually meeting up with someone,”

 

“Oh.” Cole tried to hide his disappointment. “Who?”

 

“Err,” she stalled. Joss had to stay home with Taylor and John would’ve mentioned it to Cole if they were going to a bar together that night. Her eyes connected with another pair from across the street, who smiled and waved from their position of watering their flowers. “Samantha,” she blurted out, wincing with regret immediately after. She wish she had just told Cole to mind his damn business instead.

 

“Sam? You’re going with Sam?” Cole asked. “That’s great, I’m glad you asked her,”

 

Shaw scoffed. “Asked her? Please, she asked me,” she lied. She didn’t want any aspect of this situation to look as if she was willingly traveling with the woman. “I just said yes because I wanted a drink.”

 

Her frown deepened as she began to think the situation through. She hoped Samantha was a lightweight like she looked so she could ditch her easily.

 

“Yeah, yeah, she’s here right now, so I gotta go,”

 

She could her Cole smile. She hated it.

 

“Great! Okay, tell her ‘hi’ for me, I’ll be home in thirty,” Cole replied.

 

Shaw groaned as she hung out. She looked out the window again, waving to the woman to get her attention. Samantha looked up.

 

‘Me?’ Samantha mouthed, looking around her. Shaw rolled her eyes. “No, your dead husband’s ghost,” she muttered bitterly to herself, already exhausted. She nodded aggressively. ‘You,’ she mouthed in return. She waved her arm at herself. ‘Come over,’

 

Samantha beamed in response, tugging off her gardening gloves to walk over. Shaw slouched as she made her way to the front door, taking a deep breath before swinging it open.

 

“Isn’t this a pleasant surprise?” Samantha grinned, walking by the smaller woman and into her house. “Good to see you again, Sameen,”

 

Shaw set her jaw. “Look, I didn’t bring you here to chat,” she began.

 

“But chatting is so much fun,” Samantha pouted, sticking out her bottom lip and tilting her head.

 

Shaw rolled her eyes. “Look, let’s get drinks together. Chat there, or whatever. There’s a bar on fourth and Washington I wanna check out, okay?”

 

Samantha furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “You mean _The Pearl_? Why would you want to go there?” she asked, clearly taken aback. Immediately after, she shook her head a little and resumed a smile. “I mean, if you wanna go there, I’d love to. I’m just a little bit confused,”

 

Shaw shrugged, frowning slightly at Samantha’s rollercoaster of emotions. “Uh, I just want to. Cheap drinks,” she replied lamely. “But, if Cole asks, tell him that you asked me to go, okay?”

 

Samantha’s smile came back as she tossed her hair behind her shoulder. “What- you invite a girl over just to order her around? That’s not very nice of you,”

 

Shaw clicked her teeth- less than five minutes of interaction and she was already itching for those guns just a few feet over. She hoped the alcohol wouldn’t make her do anything too drastic tonight. “Just do it.”

 

“Well,” Samantha pretended to think, tapping her finger against her chin, “I guess for you I’ll do it,”

 

Shaw ignored her. “C’mon, let’s watch TV or something ’til Cole gets back,” she grumbled, stalking over to the living room and plopping on the couch next to Gen.

 

“Hey Sam,” the child greeted casually.

 

“Hey, Gen,” Samantha smiled, sitting down next to Shaw. Shaw narrowed her eyes at how close they were, their knees slightly hitting each other. Shaw quickly pulled her legs up to sit on top of them.

 

“Never met a kid who enjoyed watching the news,” Samantha remarked after a few minutes of silence, save the noise from the television.

 

“It’s interesting. I like to know what’s happening,” Gen replied without looking away from the screen. “People are so stupid,”

 

Samantha smirked. “Couldn’t agree more,” she murmured. Shaw was surprised- she didn’t expect that sort of sentiment from her of all people.

 

The sound of the door opening sounded from down the hall.

 

“Michael’s here,” Gen announced in a monotone voice. Shaw nodded, still watching the television.

 

“He’ll find us,”

 

As if on queue, Cole entered. “Hey guys- Sam! It’s good to see you here, thanks for inviting Sameen out for drinks,”

 

Samantha smiled at Shaw. “Well of course, I was more than happy to! After our run earlier I just couldn’t wait to spend more time with this gal,” she said, subtly nudging her shoulder against the smaller woman’s.

 

Cole nodded. “Yeah, yeah, I heard you two ran together, that’s great. I was worried she’d get lost in this new neighborhood, I’m glad she had a guide,”

 

“It’s literally a big oval,” Shaw protested, “Where would I get lost?”

 

Samantha and Cole ignored her. “Yeah, yeah,” Samantha agreed, “Some parts are just so confusing,”

 

“I can literally see the end of the houses from this window,”

 

“Hm, yeah, well maybe you girls can go together more often,” Cole suggested.

 

Shaw grabbed Samantha’s arm as she hoisted the both of them up. Shaw winced as the blood rushed into her legs again but continued to pull the other woman away. “Yeah, I think happy hour is ending soon, we should get going now,”

 

“Bye Michael,” Samantha called out as they continued into the hall and through the front door. “Bye Gen,”

 

Shaw shook her head, pulling the car keys out of her pocket. She hesitated for a moment- if she used her and Cole’s car, Hersh would identify her more easily. She tucked them back into her pocket. “Let’s take your car for a spin, actually,”

 

Samantha raised her eyebrow. “Alright,” she agreed slowly. Shaw ignored her confused stares and began crossing the street, dragging the other woman along behind her.

 

“Wow, I feel like I’m a kid again,” Samantha teased once they got to the other side. Shaw shot her a perplexed look.

 

“What?”

 

“Well, y’know,” Samantha looked down at her arm where Shaw’s hand was firmly grasped around her wrist. “Don’t kids hold hands crossing the street? Like in elementary school?” A worried edge began to creep into her usually cheerful tone.

 

Shaw instantly released her hand, putting it behind her back, her ears burning. “Sorry,” she mumbled, turning away from the other woman’s stare, “I do it with Gen. Habit, I guess,”

 

“You’re cute,” Samantha decided finally with a nod. Shaw’s lips curled in disgust.

 

“‘ _Cute_ ’?”

 

Samantha nodded again. Shaw made a disgusted noise as she snatched the key’s from the taller woman’s hands. “Whatever, I’m driving,”

 

Samantha smiled. “You’re lucky you’re cute or I’d protest more,” she teased. Shaw slammed the car door shut.

 

“Are you getting in or are you just gonna stand there like an idiot all night?” she complained after she opened the window.

 

“I didn’t say yes to be berated for a couple hours,” Samantha retorted. She smiled, but her tone was firm.

 

“I’m just not a very open person,”

 

“Doesn’t mean you have to be rude the entire time,”

 

Shaw nodded. “Alright, I’ll ease up,” she said, leaning over to push the passenger’s side open. “I’m sorry,” she added, imagining Gen’s disapproving look if she hadn’t.

 

Samantha nodded, approving of her response. “Now was that so hard?” she asked, once she sat down.

 

Shaw turned on the engine and began to back out of the driveway. “Wait, wait,” Samantha said suddenly, leaning over towards Shaw. Shaw immediately backed further into her door.

 

“What the hell?” she asked, her muscles tensing up.

 

Samantha gave a satisfied look as she clicked in place Shaw’s seatbelt. “Safety first,”

 

Shaw stared at her in disbelief. “I could’ve hit one of our neighbors ‘cause of you,”

 

Samantha shrugged. “You’d probably be doing a service to this neighborhood if you did,”

 

Shaw stared at her for a few moments, finally letting out a genuine chuckle. “Yeah, I guess so,”

 

“I wish it had been the Rens.”

 

“Yeah, don’t we all,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love joss carter she was my favorite it was very tragic and stupid when they killed her off
> 
> stay tuned for the bar scene!


	6. Bar Fight / Bar Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shaw watches her mark.
> 
> Root watches her mark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for all the comments! sorry i've taken longer in updating- i've written like 10 chapters but i always forget til im about to fall asleep to post a new one lol

Her eyes followed Casey across the room as he entered the bar from her position at a table in the back.

 

“Who you lookin’ at, Sameen,” Samantha slurred against her hand which was pressed up against her face. Shaw was right, she really was a lightweight. Shaw took a small sip at her second glass of whiskey, savoring the burning, warm sensation. Samantha sloppily turned her head back.

 

“No one,” Shaw lied, looking away. She noticed a couple guys outside of the window- dark suits, plain ties. They were tailing him. “Shit,” she muttered under her breath, not caring if Samantha heard her. Even if Samantha did hear, she was too drunk to remember.

 

“Who’re you lookin’ at?” Samantha repeated, tilting her head up to look face to face with Shaw. “A guy?” she asked, before wiggling her eyebrows. “A girl?”

 

Shaw quirked her eyebrows in surprise, before regaining her stoic composition. This was dangerous to discuss. She hadn’t even mentioned to Cole her attraction to men and women.

 

Samantha spoke before Shaw could think of a response. “Alright, alright, don’t tell me,” she grinned, her head slowly sliding down her hand and forearm until clunking onto the table. “I’ll find them,” she mumbled.

 

Shaw shook her head, moving the mostly-full Ballantine bottle beside her hand to the wall, next to the previous two. She didn’t want her to knock it over in her stupor.

 

She watched Casey sip at his beer, every so often looking around nervously. He knew he was being followed. He was going to be difficult. _Perfect,_ she smiled in anticipation. She had long needed this excitement.

 

“Well aren’t you a good agent,” a voice sounded from her side. She whipped her head around in surprise..

 

“Reese,” she nodded, at ease, “Good to see you,”

 

He tipped his head towards the slumped over Samantha. “Who’s the friend?”

 

Shaw rolled her eyes. “Neighbor,”

 

“She alright?”

 

Shaw shrugged. “I’d hope so,”

 

Samantha slowly lifted her head up. “Hey,” she slurred, her hand pressed against her forehead in support. Her eyes looked glazed over; she blinked, disoriented. “Sam,”

 

Reese gave a strained smile in response. Content, Samantha put her head back down.

 

Reese nodded towards the wall opposite of where they were sitting. “Let’s continue our discussion over there,” glancing down at the slumped woman.

 

Shaw finished her drink, following him while still watching Casey.

 

“The Feds are outside,”

 

“I know, we need to get him out now,”

 

“How?”

 

“You have your gun?”

 

“Guns. I got two,”

 

“Over-achiever,”

 

“Prepared,” she corrected with a smirk.

 

Reese frowned and looked past the small woman. “I think Casey is heading over to your neighbor,”

 

“What?” Shaw whipped her head around.

 

Casey was leaning down in front of Samantha, talking shaking her arm.

 

“Shit,”

 

* * *

 

“Jennifer? Jennifer, I know its you,” Daniel growled, hands clenching the table. Even in the dim lighting, she could see the sweat glistening his forehead. “You may not be blonde, but I can tell its you,”

 

Root cursed under her breath. She knew he had seen her right when she greeted Shaw’s friend, but had hoped her disguise as ‘Jennifer’ was good enough to fool him in the dim lighting. Apparently not.

 

“You stink of alcohol,” Root exclaimed loudly, standing up. She saw Shaw begin to head over. “Shut up or you’ll get us both caught,” she murmured. His eyes widened.

 

“I knew it, I knew it,” he breathed, nodding in relief. “They’re following me- I can tell. They know where I live, work- everywhere. You have to help me,”

 

“Exit through the back door. Then head to sixth and Jefferson. I’ll pick you up,” she murmured.

 

He grabbed her arm. “I can’t wait that long- get me out now,” he fumed, twisting it. Root stared at him, a manic smile playing at her lips. She grabbed his wrist with the other hand and ripped it off, pulling it over his head. She twisted it behind his back and pushed him down to the ground. The familiar feeling of adrenaline coursed through her veins, the buzz of alcohol heightening the feeling. It had been a while since she had to use force. She closed her eyes to slowly revel in it.

 

A hand grabbed her arm, though much gentler than the last one. “Samantha? Are you alright?”

 

She snapped her eyes open, displaying fear. “He was such a creep, oh my god,” she mumbled. “Do you think he’s alright?”

 

Shaw looked at the man as he clasped onto a chair to slowly stand up. “Uh, yeah, sure,” she said, turning back to the other woman. “How did you learn to fight like that?”

 

“Self-defense classes,” Root lied. Shaw nodded, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Root quickly sucked in air, wincing as she held her arm, distracting her momentarily.

 

“And you’re okay?” Shaw asked, peering at the red marks on her arm. She moved in closer, gently prodding at her arm.

 

“Not the first time I’ve gotten some red marks on my arm from someone from this bar,” Root replied with a lazy smile, making her eyes flutter between closed and open.

 

Shaw dropped her arm and turned towards her friend. “She’s fine,”

 

“Hey, Samantha. Why don’t me and Shaw here get him away from you. Why don’t you wait here and we’ll be back to take you home?”

 

Root pulled her gaze from Shaw to look at the friend.

 

_Shit,_ she thought. It was the guy from Zoe’s photograph- an FBI Agent. She glanced between Shaw and him.

 

“And you are?” she asked, still keeping up the drunk act. She sloppily pointed between the man and woman. “Should I not tell Mike of your guest, Sameen?” she inquired with a salacious grin.

 

“We’re not like that. I’m John- a friend,” he quickly reassured, discomfort evident in his voice. Shaw nodded aggressively. 

 

“Not like that at all,” she concurred right after. Both sported identical faces of disgust.

 

“Hm, well okay,” she winked, “And it’s fine. I’ll let you two catch up- my friend lives near so I’ll crash at her place,”

 

Reese shook his head, lifting Daniel up by his collar. “It’s fine,” he grunted, “We’ll really take him out,”

 

Root cursed inwardly. “No, it’s fine,” she argued. “Stay here,”

 

Shaw frowned. “Samantha, just sit down. We’ll be back in a few minutes. Just rest up, okay?”

 

Suddenly Daniel kicked John in the shin, bolting across the room. “Stay here,” Shaw ordered before dashing behind him, John limping quickly behind. Root rolled her eyes and sighed, quickly hurrying out of the bar to her car.

 

* * *

 

“Casey, we’re here to help you,” Shaw called out into the alleyway. She inched forward, hands raised. “Look- no weapon,”

 

Two shots fired, landing in the wall behind her. “I know you’re FBI,” a shaky voice called. “I recognize that man you’re with. And now you’re gonna kill me,”

 

Footsteps echoed towards the mouth of the alleyway. “Hide,” she hissed, “They’ll recognize you immediately,”

 

Reese ducked behind a dumpster.

 

“FBI, everyone on the ground,” a voice commanded from behind. She stared at the wall for a couple of moments.

 

“Okay, I’m gonna get down,” she stated calmly, slowly bending over. Suddenly she grabbed the Bobcat on her ankle and whipped around, shooting the two men in the chest. They clutched their wounds and fell to the ground.

 

Reese stared at her.

 

“The shadows on the wall,” she bragged, still grinning from the shooting, “I knew where to turn,”

 

Reese scrunched his nose. “Did you have to shoot them in the chest,” he asked, peering at their bodies.

 

Shaw rolled her eyes, “They’ll be fine, someone probably is calling the cops right now. Anyways, I saved your skin, back off,”

 

He frowned. “Next time, do the kneecaps,”

 

“Everyone’s a critic,” she grumbled, kicking away the FBI Agents’ guns. “I can’t help that I’m a force of nature,”

 

She reloaded her gun and began walking toward the end of the alleyway.

 

“Look, man, more Feds will be showing up any minute. Clearly we are not the FBI- we just committed a felony to prove it. Now why don’t you let us continue saving your ass by following us?”

 

Casey peered out from behind a trashcan. “Okay, okay,” he agreed shakily.

 

“Hands up, kid,” Shaw added, waving her gun. “C’mon,”

 

He hurried over to the woman. “Where are we going?”

 

“Follow us,” Reese replied, snatching the gun tucked into the young man’s waistband. He flinched in fear, holding up his hands to protect himself. Shaw rolled her eyes and pushed him forward to follow Reese, who was walking towards the entrance of the alleyway. He paused in his tracks, jutting a hand out in front of Shaw and Casey to keep them from continuing. “Footsteps,” he murmured. His eyes widened. “Get behind something!”

 

The three turned around to run towards the dumpster. Four shadows appeared on the wall.

 

“FBI- don’t move!” One commanded. Shaw let out a groan- not even one mission in and they were caught. Cole was going to be so pissed. At least Gen would be impressed, though.

 

They watched two of the shadows advance while the other who trained their pistols on them. She and Reese shot each other a look.

 

‘Guns a’blazing?’ she mouthed. He gently shook his head, as not to provoke the agents.

 

Four shots in a row rang out in rapid succession until Shaw, Reese, and Casey were the only three left standing. They turned around.

 

* * *

 

Root tucked both of her pistols into her waistband, creeping up to the edge of the alleyway. She listened as light footsteps tentatively approached the edge. _Shaw,_ she identified. She adjusted the black mask over her head and zipped up her hoodie, now especially thankful that Shaw decided to take her car so she could be prepared. Once Shaw’s gun came into view, she grabbed it, taking the smaller woman by surprise. She lifted her arms above their heads as she kicked Shaw in the stomach, pushing her onto the floor. She kicked her again, knocking the wind out of her, and then kicked her in the shin for good measure.

 

Root looked up at John, who was aiming the gun right at her. “I’m not gonna let you take him,” he stated coolly. She took a couple of steps forward and nodded.

 

John clutched his head, turning around to look at Daniel, who had just hit him with a trashcan lid. Taking her chance, she bounded towards him, throwing a punch with both her left and right hands, which he easily caught. Smiling, she knee-ed him in the groin, forcing him to double over. She hooked him in the jaw before grabbing his gun, aiming it at him.

 

She nodded at Daniel who ran to her nervously. “Follow me,” she hissed, not wanting to speak too loud for them to recognize her voice. John reluctantly lifted his hands up in defeat, fire raging in his eyes. The pair ran towards the exit.

 

As the feelings of adrenaline began to wash off, feelings of guilt began to rise as she looked over at the still bent-over Shaw, struggling to stand up. Even though the hair blocked most of her face, Root could feel the hatred radiating off of Shaw. She tossed their guns down before tugging Daniel, forcing him to run down the block, ripping off her mask. Sirens sounded in the distance- Root hoped they got out of there fast enough.

 

* * *

 

Reese ran over and helped Shaw stand up. She dug her fingers into his arms for balance, gasping to catch her breath. 

 

“Who the hell was that?” she demanded through gritted teeth.


	7. The Caretaker / Smotritel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Root deals with Daniel
> 
> Shaw looks out for her neighbor

Reese shook his head, leaning over to grab their discarded guns. “A third party, I guess,” he said, handing her pistol back to her. She winced as she leaned over to take it, tucking it back into her ankle holster.

 

The sirens got louder. “We gotta move, now,” he muttered. He peered down the block. “They’re gone. We gotta get Sam and leave immediately,”

 

Shaw sighed, shooting a glance down the now-empty block herself. “Yeah, okay, okay,” she agreed reluctantly, limping towards the backdoor of _The Pearl._

 

“Hey, look at that,” Reese said behind her. She turned her head to look at the four FBI agents writhing on the ground. “Shot in their _kneecaps_ ,”

 

Shaw rolled her eyes. “I get it, I get it- even the super assassin or whatever has the same moral code as you. I told you- I’ll follow it next time,”

 

“It’s not mine, it’s Finch’s. And Carter’s,” he corrected.

 

“Whatever. Anyways, I can’t believe we failed our first mission,” she grumbled.

 

Reese cleared his throat and looked away. Shaw rolled her eyes.

 

“What, John?”

 

“I mean, _I’ve_ had other missions. So _you_ failed your first mission. This was just a random mission to me,” he explained. She gave him an exasperated look.

 

“Oh my god,” she muttered to herself, pulling open the door slowly. Her whole body ached. “Shit, where is she?”

 

Reese limped over to the bartender. “Hey, where did that woman go?”

 

“Don’t we all wanna know?” the bartender joked, adding a wink. He glanced between Reese’s and Shaw’s blank stares and blushed, looking away in embarrassment. “She, uh, left through the front door soon after you left,”

 

Shaw sighed. “She’s drunk off her ass, Reese. It’s, like, ten o’clock- she isn’t safe,”

 

Reese nodded. “C’mon, let’s see if her car is still there,” he suggested. Shaw nodded, following him towards the door. On the way out, she swiped Samantha’s un-finished Ballantine bottle from their table. _Might as well make the most of the night._

 

* * *

 

“This yours?” Daniel asked nervously from the backseat, peering down at Root.

 

“I’m hot-wiring it- of course it’s mine. I just lost the keys,” she replied sarcastically. Finally, the engine started.

 

She pulled herself in an upright position, pulling the car out into the street. “Get your head down,” she ordered. He scrambled to the floor in the back.

 

“Thanks for getting me,” he said, his voice muffled by the seats. “How did you know they were following me?”

 

“Just a hunch,” she replied. It wasn’t necessarily a lie- once Shaw had suggested _The Pearl_ , she had a feeling Daniel would be there. It was the spot she recruited him at and met up with every month for information. He was an employee of a military base here in Virginia and he often had good intel.

 

She frowned as she recounted the night’s events- from the start Shaw seemed on edge, making them take a seat in the back and looking carefully at every new customer that walked in. To avoid suspicion, Root acted drunk, which Shaw was more than happy to believe as it shut her up. Root scoffed to herself. _Two beers. I’m Russian, for god’s sake._

 

Root loved messing around with the small woman. Even though she was critical to her mission, she couldn’t help herself. Shaw was easily the most interesting person she had met since she arrived in the United States all those years ago. Plus, Cole and Gen already liked her- Shaw basically _had_ to put up with her now. Including the flirting.

 

_Was it Cole that sent her to_ The Pearl _?_ she wondered. What other explanation could there be- why else would she be so set on following Daniel outside, especially with ‘her friend’ from the FBI? But Cole seemed so oblivious- she was forced to lie to Cole about who thought of the plan to go out. She really needed to bug that house soon.

 

“Did you kill those guys back there?” Daniel asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

 

“I wish- it’s been far too long,” she muttered, more to herself than him, turning down into a more secluded road. “My handler wouldn’t like it though- we don’t want to provoke The Americans further. Just in the knees.”

 

“Oh,” he said softly. He cleared his throat. “So what will happen to me now?”

 

Root glanced back at him in her rearview mirror. “Safehouse for now. Then I’ll signal my handler to get you a new identity. How does California sound?”

 

“My life is here,” he began to protest.

 

“The end of your life is also here,” she interrupted. “What will it be?”

 

He sighed and burrowed himself deeper into the floor of the old car. Root shook her head and continued her drive to the Safehouse, listening to the sounds of the sirens fade into silence.

 

* * *

 

“She has to return to her car- right?” Shaw asked. “What time is it?”

 

“It’s been twenty minutes,” Reese replied.

 

Shaw jumped out of the car, ignoring that pain that shot through her body. “Look again. You wait here- I’ll look around the alleys again and see where she is.”

 

Reese grabbed her by the shoulder, holding her back. “If you go back, there’s a chance you’ll be stopped by a couple of agents. Wait here,”

 

Shaw let out a deep breath, glancing around the streets. They were lucky that they had to park a few streets over because of no parking options by the bar. No agents had come by yet.

 

She sighed, shaking her head. “I can’t,” she said, almost apologetic. She knew the stakes if she was stopped. The gun on her ankle and her waistband would do little to assuage the suspicion placed upon her. “She could be in trouble,”

 

“Wait- is that her?” Reese asked, squinting his eyes. In the distance a woman stumbled towards them, a black bag in her hand. 

 

“Hey sweetie,” Samantha smiled. “You’re back,”

 

“Where were you?” Shaw demanded, ignoring the title. She snatched the black bag from her, peering inside. “A sandwich- really?”

 

“You can have some if you’d like,” Samantha offered.

 

Reese got out of the car. “I’m gonna go. Sam, Shaw,” he nodded as he walked across the street to his own car.

 

“Why didn’t you wait? I had no idea where you were,”

 

Samantha nodded earnestly. “I see what you mean,” she said, taking half of the sandwich out. She took a large bite and swallowed. A grin formed on her face. “Were you worried about me? Aw, Shaw, I never knew you cared,”

 

“Wh-what?” Shaw stuttered, shaking her head quickly as she stepped back a few steps. “No. No! Gen met you like two days ago and somehow loves you already- its the dog- and she’d never speak to me again if I lost you on our night out,”

 

Shaw winced at her own reaction. Maybe two glasses of whiskey wouldn’t’ve been an issue on any normal night, but with all the blood rushing to her head, it clearly was affecting her coherency. A sour look crossed her face.

 

Samantha held out the other half of the sandwich, nudging it towards the woman. “Okay, okay, a peace offering then,”

 

Shaw took it, still scowling. “I see you’ve sobered up,”

 

Samantha shrugged. “Yeah. I guess.”

 

“Here, get in the car. Let’s drive you home,”

 

“Taking me home, are you now? Wow, John and then me? Hard to feel like I’m not second-choice. Or rather third, if you count Cole,”

 

Shaw made a face as they pulled out of the car, turning down the block.

 

“John and I are _not_ like that,” she stated crossly.

 

“Good to know,” Samantha purred beside her. Her tone changed. “Wait, why are there cops everywhere? And an ambulance?”

 

“There, uh, was a shooting. Didn’t you hear the sirens?”

 

“I mean, I heard the sirens,” Samantha’s voice trailed off. She looked up, a curious look on her face. “What happened to the creep?”

 

“He, uh, got away,”

 

Shaw was glad to be driving. Now she didn’t have to look at her when she lied. She had a feeling Samantha would see right through her.

 

Samantha nodded. “Oh, okay.”

 

The rest of the ride was spent in silence.

 

* * *

 

“You’re the drunk one, I should be walking you to your door,”

 

Root shook her head. “Nah, I like the fresh air,”

 

Shaw nodded. “Alright,” she decided. The two women crossed the street.

 

“Hey, don’t tell Cole we went to The Pearl, yeah?” Shaw asked as they reached the front door. “He’d just worry because of the shooting near there,”

 

Root nodded. “Gotcha,”

 

Shaw opened the door. “Do you wanna come in?” she asked with a frown, noting Root’s lingering.

 

“What? Oh, no, I’m sorry! I meant to tell you that I think I dropped some money on your couch or something- I guess I was too drunk to mention it earlier, huh,” Root lied. Shaw smiled in relief.

 

“Yeah, yeah, come in,” she said, opening the door wider.

 

Root hurried into the living room, crouching by the couch. She discreetly pulled a wad of money from her pockets, as well as a pen. She quickly placed the pen between the leg of the sofa and the end table before standing up, triumphantly holding up the twenty dollar bill. “Found it,” she announced. Shaw nodded.

 

“Well, I guess I’ll see you,”

 

“Yeah, yeah. I had fun tonight,” Root said. And it was true, it was the most fun she had for a while.

 

Shaw nodded, holding her gaze. She smiled back as she walked Root to the front door. “Yeah, me too. I had fun, too.”

 

She watched as Root crossed the street and reached her house. She closed the door once content she was safe inside.

 

Root sighed as she closed the door, tugging off her shoes and throwing them to the side.

 

“Hey Bear,” she greeted sleepily, walking over to the garage. She rummaged through the briefcases behind the dryer, finally pulling out the one she wanted, opening it up.

 

She sat on the washing machine as she listened to the transmissions coming in the radio from the pen she planted just a few moments earlier. She tapped the pencil against the notepad, waiting for any dialogue.

 

_“How was your night?”_ Michael’s voice sounded.

 

_“It was alright. We just went to Samantha’s favorite bar or something. Like_ Stella’s _, maybe?”_

 

_“That’s great! We’ll talk more in the morning- I actually came down here to sleep, though,”_

 

_“Oh, yeah, sorry,”_ Shaw replied hurriedly. The sound of a bag rustling came through the comms. _Chips,_ Root recognized with a small smile. _“Yeah, I’ll head upstairs. I forgot it was so late,”_

 

_“It’s fine. Maybe we should buy a TV for your room, though,”_

 

_“Yeah, yeah. Alright, goodnight,”_ Root listened to Shaw’s footsteps get fainter and fainter.

 

That was interesting. “What couple sleeps in different rooms?” Root murmured to herself. She waited by the radio until faint snores sounded. She climbed up the stairs to her room, falling into her bed.

 

_If Michael’s out of the loop, then why was Shaw so bent on getting to Daniel?_ she wondered.

 

Root smiled. Screw Michael Cole, Sameen Shaw was the one to watch out for.


	8. The Insider / Insayder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Root tries another approach with the Shaw family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops i havent updated in so long my bad  
> i actually have like multiple more chapters already written but i had computer issues/bad wifi as i was away on vacation for 1.5 weeks
> 
> anyways this is sorta filler but bear is in it so..

Shaw limped down the stairs, clutching the handrail to keep herself upright. The adrenaline from the fight last night had kept the pain from setting in immediately, making an unfortunate surprise upon waking up. She peered into the living room, finding Cole lying on his couch, shuffling through some files.

 

“When’d you wake up?” she asked, entering the room to sit on the chair across from his head. She winced as she lowered herself down. She reached for the papers, which he quickly snatched away.

 

“Confidential, Shaw,” he warned. She raised her eyebrows. Begrudgingly, he handed them over.

 

Shaw grinned victoriously. Technically since she wasn’t apart of the FBI anymore, he wasn’t allowed to share information. However, their relationship was less than conventional and Cole often let her in on secrets or even consulted her on cases.

 

“Just a few minutes ago,” he replied, pushing himself upright to peer at the papers alongside her. “What happened to you? You winced,”

 

“I’m fine,” she lied, “I slipped on some booze at the bar and I guess I didn’t really feel the injury until this morning,”

 

She thumbed through the files, ignoring his concerned look.

 

“Are you okay?” he asked, glancing at her leg. “Can I see your injury?”

 

“Its just a bruise,” she said. He remained silent, staring at her in worry. She huffed, slowly lifting up the sleeve of her sweats, revealing an angry purple mark on the side of her shin, a smaller version of the one on her ribs. Cole’s eyes widened.

 

“Shaw,” he exclaimed, reaching for it. She pulled down the cloth, blocking his hand. He pulled away, still staring at the place where the bruise lay. “That’s nasty,” he finally got out.

 

“I’m fine,” she repeated more firmly, looking back at the files. She pushed down the anger rising in her chest at the thought of the fight and failure. She shifted through the pages aggressively. A lump caught in her throat as her eyes fell on a familiar face. She slowly pulled out the piece of paper.

 

“Who’s this guy?” she asked carefully. He continued looking at her leg. “Cole.”

 

He blinked, murmuring out an apology. He scanned the photo, flipping it over to the side that displayed his personal information. 

 

“Daniel Casey,” he read. He looked up, recognition crossing his face. “He went missing last night- right underneath our thumbs. We were tailing him ‘cause we thought he was tied to the USSR. Some shootout occurred downtown by some bar and he escaped.”

 

“Shootout? He doesn’t look all that dangerous to me,” she commented, keeping a close eye on his reaction.

 

Cole shook his head. “This guy? Nah- this guy was some computer geek. But there were at least three highly trained officers helping him get out,”

 

“Did you know them?” Shaw asked. “The FBI agents, I mean,”

 

Cole let out a breath. “Yeah, I mean, they came to the party. They were in my division, though we didn’t talk much,”

 

Shaw ran through all the faces at the party and tried to link them up with the two she shot. She wished she had gotten a closer look before the other agents had arrived.

 

“Was it the Soviets?”

 

Cole nodded, a grim look crossing his face. “Before, we weren’t sure if Casey was an informant or not. Now? Absolutely,”

 

Shaw let out the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. “Yeah,” she murmured. “Definitely,”

 

As far as she could tell, the FBI had no idea of her and John’s involvement with their suspect, looking for Russian spies instead of some housewife and a FBI agent. She handed the stack of papers back to Cole, using the armrest to pull herself up.

 

“I’m gonna heat up some left-overs in the fridge. You want me to heat up some for you?” she asked on her way out.

 

Cole shook his head. “No, thanks. I need to look over these files some more. But could you put on the coffee, though?” he asked. Shaw nodded, limping out of the room.

 

She frowned- she could tell Cole was distressed over the shoot-out. A cold feeling shook her body and she stopped in her tracks. It could’ve been Cole she shot without hesitation. She gulped, pushing that feeling away, slowly continuing on. She couldn’t think like that.

 

On her way to the kitchen, she looked up the stairs. “Gen? I’m getting food- you want any?” she called. She was met with silence. “Genrika?”

 

She slowly climbed the stairs, wincing with each step from the injury to her ribs. She paused when she reached the top before knocking on Gen’s door. She peeked her head in. No one was there.

 

She limped down the stairs. “Hey, Cole?” she called. “You see Gen?”

 

“No,” he called back. “She not in her room?”

 

Shaw entered his room. “No,” she replied. He began to stand up. “No, stay there, work. Maybe she’s outside,” she muttered, turning around to head out.

 

She covered her eyes to block the sun as she peered around the neighborhood. Suddenly a familiar laugh sounded faintly in the distance, breaking the silence of the neighborhood.

 

Shaw snapped her head towards the source. “Gen?” she called, hurrying across the street. The laughing grew louder.

 

“Back here,” her voice yelled back. Shaw groaned- of course she had to be in Samantha’s backyard.

 

She pulled open the fence and walked through to find Gen playing fetch with Bear.

 

“Hey, Sameen,” a voice said from behind. She turned around slowly to see Samantha sitting on a chair on the deck with a tall glass of lemonade and a book. She motioned towards the glass. “Didn’t expect to see you so soon after our hang-out last night. Want some?”

 

“Uh, no,” Shaw grunted.

 

“Your loss,” Samantha replied, puckering her lips as she leant down to sip at the straw, still maintaining eye-contact. Shaw rolled her eyes, bending down to talk to Gen.

 

“Gen. What are you doing here?” she hissed.

 

“I wanted to play with Bear,” Gen replied with a frown. “Sam said it was okay if I stopped by anytime.”

 

“I’ve kept an eye on her, don’t worry,” Samantha reassured from the deck. “You can even join me in the shade,”

 

Shaw rolled her eyes.

 

Sure, Samantha was _alright_. She pushed Shaw to be a better runner- the faster they went, the less energy she had to talk. And she could keep a secret. And complain about the other neighbors.

 

But she was also too complicated. Too nosy, too stupid, too pathetic, too sad, too strange. She gave off a vibe. Shaw sure as hell didn’t believe that “self-defense class,” bullshit she provided the night prior, for starters.

 

Samantha was just too much.

 

“I’m fine,” she replied curtly. Gen looked up at her impatiently, stealing glances at the dog.

 

“So,” Gen said, “Can I continue playing now?”

 

“Don’t you have friends your age?”

 

Gen scoffed. “No. Why would I want that?”

 

Shaw nodded. “Yeah, good point.”

 

She gave one quick glance at Samantha before turning back to Gen. “Fine,” she declared. “Don’t cause her trouble. And tell us next time before you go,”

 

“You were in the shower and Michael was asleep,” Gen defended. Shaw gave her a look. “Yeah, okay, sorry, won’t happen again,” she mumbled. Shaw nodded, content. 

 

She turned to Samantha. “This okay?”

 

Samantha smiled. “What’s the harm in two gals bonding? Gen is welcome to come over anytime I’m home,”

 

Shaw nodded. “Well, thanks,” she muttered. She gave a nod and walked off, doing her best to hide her limp.

 

* * *

 

“So, what do you like?” Root asked, getting up from her seat on the deck to join the young girl. Gen shrugged.

 

“Dogs, I guess.”

 

Root laughed. “Well, what else?”

 

Gen shrugged.

 

Root glanced at the panting animal beside them. “Say, Bear seems tired. Wanna take a break? I can show you some cool stuff,” she promised.

 

Gen stared at her for a couple moments before nodding. _She’s so Shaw’s kid,_ Root thought to herself, ushering the girl inside.

 

They entered the kitchen.

 

“So. What’s the cool thing?” Gen asked in a dull tone.

 

Root glanced around the room, racking her brain for ideas on how to bond with the girl. “I found this really cool nail-polish set the other day- wanna try it out?” she suggested.

 

Gen wrinkled her nose slightly. “I mean, if you want,” she agreed, a dismayed look falling on her face.

 

“Uhh…” Root pursed her lips. She had one idea. A terrible, dangerous idea, but one nonetheless. “Actually,” she began, turning around. Gen stole glances at Bear from the window.

 

Root reached towards the cabinet, pulling out a glass.

 

“Have you ever seen this trick before?” Root asked, motioning for her to follow. “Stand in there,” she instructed, pointing at the bathroom. Gen obliged, the curiosity getting the best of her. “Now, when I close this door, turn on the faucet, count to five, and then list your favorite color and favorite number,”

 

Gen frowned but nodded, still confused. Root clicked the door close, lifting the glass against the door. She pressed her ear against the cool cup, listening carefully.

 

Gen opened the door a few moments later. “And?” she asked.

 

“Gen,” Root chided, “Rainbow is not a color. Nor is infinity a number,”

 

Gen’s eyes widened. “How did you hear me? I whispered that!”

 

Root held up the glass. “It helps me listen in, it’s fun,”

 

Gen took it, turning it over in her hands.

 

Root cleared her throat. “Do you like listening to people?” she asked, keeping a neutral tone.

 

“You mean like spying?” Gen asked. Root’s breath caught in her throat. “Yeah, I guess. I mean, my mom did it. So yeah, I guess its alright,”

 

Root smiled in relief. “That’s so cool,” she encouraged. “I, myself, happen to know a couple of tricks.”

 

Gen’s eyes lit up. “Like what? Show me,”

 

Root smiled, carefully picking her next words. “Just some basic stuff. Like invisible ink, stuff like that.” Gen smiled widely up at her.

 

Root was relieved- it was good that Gen was starting to trust her. It was clear Gen was only there for the dog, but Root needed more of an inside into this family, hoping a bond with their daughter would make Michael and Shaw more comfortable around her.

 

She knew mentioning spying was dangerous, but it was the only thing Root could think of to bond with the kid. She was lucky it worked- if it didn’t, Shaw might’ve gotten suspicious andit would’ve ruined her chances getting in with the family.

 

“Come on,” Root said, taking her back to the kitchen. “Lemme get out some tools,”

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

 

“So, what? Shaw doesn’t like you mentioning you’re Russian?” Root asked casually as she dealt the young girl her cards.

 

Gen skimmed the cards, placing one on the pile. Root did the same.

 

“I mean, she just doesn’t want me to get hurt because of it,” Gen replied, pulling out another card. She smirked. “She says she doesn’t have feelings but she totally does,”

 

Root tilted her head. “Oh?” she replied, feigning disinterest.

 

Gen continued on. “Yeah, hers are just tuned at a lower frequency. So its hard for even her to hear,” she explained simply, grabbing another card from the deck. She slapped it down onto the pile.

 

“Huh,”

 

“Yeah, but don’t tell her I told you that- I think she’d get mad,” Gen warned. She paused for a moment. “Anger. That’s an emotion she feels at a high frequency, though,”

 

Root laughed. “Alright,” she agreed. “What about for me? Would you mind not telling her where you learnt all these new spying techniques?” she asked, casually. “I don’t think she’d be too happy either, especially if she’s so protective,”

 

Gen nodded. “Fair,” she said, sticking out her hand. Root shook it.

 

Root knew she should feel more guilty asking a kid to lie to their parents, but in all honesty, it was sort of entertaining- as long as she didn’t get caught, of course. Gen was a good kid but easily won over with exciting tricks, like most humans.

 

But Shaw on the other hand- Shaw was something entirely different. Root still wasn’t sure what she was.

 

“Uno,” Gen announced, holding up her single card.

 

Root studied her deck of three cards carefully. She could either put down a red card like the deck asked and probably let Gen win or she could put down her +4 card and win in two turns.

 

“The game isn’t over yet,” Root announced with a grin, placing down her +4 card.

 

Gen laughed, taking more cards. Root made the right choice- Gen may not have trusted her as much if she let her win.

 

A knock at the door interrupted the game.

 

“Don’t look at my cards,” Root jested, sliding off of the stool. She hurried to open the door only to find Shaw on her step. “Sameen! What a pleasant surprise,”

 

Shaw frowned, peeking over Root’s shoulder. Root smirked as she noticed Shaw stand on the tip of her toes to see.

 

“Where’s Gen? I checked the backyard,” she questioned looking back at Root. Root moved to the side, extending her hand towards the inside of her house.

 

“Come on in, she’s in the kitchen,” she said pleasantly. Shaw immediately pushed past her.

 

* * *

 

“Gen? Why aren’t you with Bear?” Shaw asked, approaching the kid. She glanced at the cards strewn across the table. “What’re you guys doing?”

 

“Uno,” Gen explained, holding up her stack. “And Bear was tired. And it’s hot out,”

 

A body brushed up against her as it walked by. Shaw gritted her teeth. “Samantha,” she began, gripping the table in irritation.

 

“Sorry,” the taller woman replied simply, appearing to her right. “Bad ear, remember?”

 

Shaw shook her head. “Whatever,” she muttered.

 

“Why are you here, Shaw?” Gen asked.

 

“You’ve been gone awhile. Just checking up,” Shaw replied, still glaring at Samantha. She gave her an off-vibe, and she still wasn’t sure if she entirely trusted her to watch over her kid- dog or no dog.

 

“Do you wanna join us?” Samantha suggested. “We’re almost done with this game,” she leaned over conspiratorially and stage-whispered, “I’m about to win, too,”

 

“No she’s not,” Gen protested, laughing. “She only thinks she’s gonna,”

 

Shaw looked carefully between the two. “Alright,” she decided. “Deal me in,”

 

Samantha smiled at her, her eyes twinkling. She shoved a stool forward, patting the seat. “And who ever said three’s a crowd, Sameen?”

 

Shaw sighed. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea.

 

* * *

 

Shaw and Gen slowly walked across the street back to their house an hour later.

 

“Why’re you limping like that?” Gen questioned.

 

“I fell last night,” Shaw lied.

 

“Oh, that’s right. You went out with Samantha,”

 

“Did she say anything about me?” Shaw asked curiously, peering at the child.

 

Gen shook her head. “Not really,” she replied. They walked further. “She’s really cool, actually,” she said suddenly.

 

Shaw frowned. “What do you mean?”  


“I mean, at first I only liked her for Bear,” Gen began, “But we hung out and she’s pretty interesting. I was surprised,”

 

Shaw kept quiet. She didn’t know what to feel.

 

Everyone told her that Samantha was a nice, normal woman. Cole thought she was sweet, Gen thought see was cool. Even John thought she was harmless, and he was suspicious of everyone.

 

But Shaw always trusted her gut- she never ignored it just to appease people.

 

She shook her head to herself- why was it Samantha she had to move next to?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ill update soon dw


	9. The Program / Programma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Root learns why Daniel was caught.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol i keep on forgetting bc of vacation whoops.
> 
> i'll update tmr or something too to make up for my absences my bad

“What’d you got?” Zoe asked, motioning her head towards the window facing the street. Root looked up, following her eyes to Shaw’s house. The house was dark- they were probably all out. Maybe the movies, a restaurant. _Shaw does like to eat,_ Root reasoned. She smiled thinking back to the first night they met- Shaw had taken three large helpings of the meal Cole had made.

 

“ _Root_ ,”

 

“They’re working on something,” she replied distractedly, still thinking back to the first time they met.

 

“They? Cole and Shaw?” Zoe pressed. Root cleared her throat, tucking a strand of hair behind her right ear. She still wasn’t completely used to the deafness- it had happened gradually over the years. Only recently had she stopped hearing anything completely.

 

“Sorry, no, just Shaw,” she replied, focusing on the present. “Cole seems in the dark on the new project,”

 

“Of getting Daniel Casey, yeah?”

 

“Yeah,” Root confirmed, reaching for the slice of pizza on the plate in front of her. “What happened to him?”

 

“I set him up with another identity and handed him off to the big boss,”

 

“Out of mind, out of sight,” Root replied, her voice muffled from the large bite of pizza she just took. She chewed on it hungrily- she had forgotten to eat earlier. “He’s probably dead, by now,”

 

Zoe’s eyes widened. “Root,” she hissed. “Why would you think that?”

 

Root swallowed. “It takes thousands of dollars to ship him out west but its free to kill him,” she said, lifting her slice up to her mouth. She paused, reconsidering. “Mm, maybe a couple bucks for the gas to drive him to the woods, but no one counts that.” She took the bite.

 

Zoe frowned. “They wouldn’t,” she replied, it coming out as more of a question. Root shook her head.

 

“I mean, I don’t care,” she replied, reaching for her glass of water. “He wouldn’t’ve gotten far, anyways. It was probably best.” Zoe stared at her. Root sighed. “You’re a smart gal, c’mon. You really think they care about getting one informant out- he’s no use to us now,”

 

Zoe nodded slowly. “I had my suspicions,” she admitted. Root waved her hand dismissively. Zoe let out a huff of air in annoyance. “Maybe they should’ve told me before I spent hours on that new ID,” she complained, smiling a bit. Root noticed how her voice wavered, but kept quiet.

 

“Anyways, I bugged the house so I’m sure to know if anything new comes up,” Root began. “Next time they go after one of ours, I’ll be more prepared,”

 

“You did pretty well on the spot,” Zoe complimented.

 

“I was lucky,” Root avowed, shaking her head. She rubbed her fingers together, trying to lessen the grease coating the pads. “John almost had me,”

 

“John? The guy from the photo was there?”

 

“Yeah, it was him and Shaw,” Root confirmed. She rolled her eyes at Zoe’s annoyed expression. “I can’t include everything in a morse-message,” she protested. Zoe pursed her lips.

 

“This is serious,” Zoe chided.“Two days ago I tailed him,”

 

Root smirked.

 

“Oh, I’m sure,” she teased. “ _Tailed_ him, huh?”

 

“Anyways,” Zoe said, giving a pointed look at the other woman. “He was there meeting a friend, actually. Harold Finch, I think? From one of the photos from the party- brown hair, glasses, sorta nervous looking?”

 

Root reached behind her, grabbing the stack of photos she had taken. She flipped through them, pulling out a photo. “This the guy?” she asked, passing it over. Zoe ran her eyes over the face.

 

“Yeah,” she confirmed, passing it back for Root to examine more closely. “They sat in the back but I dropped a recording device- a pen- into his coat pocket and picked it up right as they were leaving. Here, I wrote down the important bits and translated it into the code,”

 

Zoe pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket, written in dots and dashes only familiar to Soviet spies. Root grabbed a pencil and sheet of paper from behind her and decoded it.

 

“I know there wasn’t much written, but that was fast,” Zoe remarked as Root put down her pencil. Root raised her eyebrows.

 

“Would’ve been quicker if you had just told me in person,” Root quipped, reading the deciphered message.

 

“Practice, practice,” Zoe recited. Root ignored her as she continued to read, her eyes narrowing with each subsequent word.

 

“Finch made a program for the FBI that singles out possible spies?” Root breathed, her mind racing.

 

“Yeah, and I think John and Shaw are apart of the team targeting them,” Zoe replied seriously. “It was a quick meeting and they were really vague. Its unclear how many more are apart of the team,”

 

Root glanced out of the window facing Shaw’s house. “I don’t think Cole is apart of it,”

 

Zoe nodded. “Still, get closer to the family and find out more. We need to stay on top of this. I’ve already alerted the _Rezident_. They need you to find a way to infiltrate and destroy the program,”

 

Root scoffed. “That’s impossible,”

 

Zoe shook her head. “The program decides who lives and who dies. If you don’t destroy it, it’ll destroy you,” she said, gravely. She looked at the clock, standing up. “I’ve over-extended my stay. You better sharpen your computer skills when you get back to work on Monday,”

 

Root didn’t hear the sound of the door shut- her mind was a whirl. Zoe’s words echoed in her mind. _The Program decides who lives and who dies,_ it repeated over and over like a mantra. A slow smile grew on Root’s face. The amount of power The Program held would be monumental.

 

The smile remained on her lips as she stared at the empty space where Zoe had sat. _I’m gonna get to that Program,_ she vowed, _and it’s gonna be mine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we'll see shaw in the next chapter
> 
> either its gonna be very long or im gonna split it up
> 
> either way gay shit is on its way


	10. Connection / Podklyucheniye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Root enlists in Harper's help.
> 
> Shaw worries about Cole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> watch out for my longest chapter yet lol

“Just sit tight and stare out the window. The camera is right here- take photos of whoever enters and exits,” Root said, motioning to the device on the right-side of the table, “and the volume button is right here.” She twisted the knob experimentally on the radio to the left and right. She pushed the pad of paper towards the other woman, scribbling the pen on the top page to test the ink. “Oh! And write down anything important you hear,” she instructed. She smiled encouragingly at the woman sitting in front of her. “Any questions?”

 

Harper crossed her arms, glaring up at Root. “When you asked me over, I thought the fun part was gonna be like watching TV together or some dumb shit. Not babysitting your neighbors,”

 

“C’mon, Harper,” Root pouted, “I need to go back to work today. Don’t you wanna be a spy?”

 

“No,”

 

“I baked cookies,” Root sang. Harper perked up, rising from her chair.

 

“Where?”

 

Root patted her gently down. “Now, now, Harper,” she chided, “I’m not going to _tell_ you where they are! I’ll give them to you when I get home.” Root paused, glancing at Harper. “But I did set up some clues - the first is Shaw’s favorite room,”

 

Harper stared at her. “What?”  


 

“Now you’ll have to listen in if you wanna find them early! You’ll do fine,” Root smiled, gathering her purse. She glanced in the mirror, checking her make-up.

 

“You’re crazy,” Harper stated, still looking at her in disbelief. Root winked, sauntering out of the room.

 

“Don’t let them see you when you take the picture- no flash!” She called out before she closed the front door behind her.

 

She strutted across the street, making her way towards Shaw’s house. It was early, but knowing Shaw, she’d be awake. She was an early riser.

 

* * *

 

“What,” Shaw grunted, swinging her door open.

 

“Hey, Shaw,” Samantha replied cheerfully, ignoring the other woman’s poor mood. She rummaged through her purse, producing a small bottle. “I stopped by to give Michael back his orange extract. I made cookies!”

 

Shaw frowned, snatching the bottle from the open hand. She wrinkled her nose in contempt.

 

“You guys share baking tips now?” she asked, incredulous. “This is his secret ingredient,”

 

“Not so secret anymore, it seems,” Samantha grinned, “Looks like he likes me!”

 

“Oh my god,” she muttered, clenching it in her fist. She tucked it into her waistband of the running shorts she was wearing. “Is that all?” she asked, glaring. She hoped she would hurry up and leave.

 

“Trying to get rid of me already, Sameen?” Samantha pouted, jutting our her bottom lip. Her eyes lingered over Shaw’s body, stopping abruptly at her legs. “Wow, Shaw,” she teased, “didn’t know you and Michael were into some wild stuff,”

 

“Gross!” she exclaimed, curling her lip. Shaw frowned in confusion, glancing down to see the bruise staring up at her.

 

Shaw squirmed beneath the other woman’s triumphant gaze. The weird feeling re-emerged, and Shaw stepped back.

 

“I, uh, fell,” she supplied, lamely. “The, uh, stairs.”

 

“Oh, that makes sense,” Samantha smiled. “I usually get bruises, too, but not on the shin,”

 

Shaw ignored the innuendo. “Is that all?” she repeated, more firmly this time.

 

She gave a disappointed look. “Can’t blame a girl for trying to avoid work,”

 

“Won’t you get in trouble for being late?”

 

Samantha let in an exaggerated gasp. “My _husband_ just _died_!” She feigned shock.

 

Shaw frowned. What a weird reaction. “Go to work, Samantha,”

 

She saluted. “See you,” she called. Shaw slammed the door shut, the frame slightly vibrating with the force of it.

 

Cole emerged soon after from the room, fiddling with the buttons on his suit. “Who was that?” he asked distractedly. He patted his hair down in the mirror.

 

“Samantha. Did you give her your orange extract for baking cookies?” she accused, holding it up.

 

“Oh, yeah, I did!” he replied, licking his thumb to wipe off a stain from the chocolate chip pancakes he made that morning from his cheek. “She was gonna make cookies,”

 

“You didn’t share that recipe with my mother,” Shaw huffed.

 

“You told me not to!” Cole defended, grabbing his briefcase that rested next to the door. “I’ll be home late - there’s a big meeting today,”

 

“The shooting?” she asked. His grim nod confirmed it.

 

“How are the agents? Who were shot?”

 

He frowned. “I’m not sure, they haven’t told me much,”

 

Shaw shook her head. “It’s been three days since the shooting. They’ve probably been recuperating, they would’ve called if they died. The office probably wanted you to have a weekend off,” she reassured. He gave her a small smile.

 

“Thanks, Shaw,”

 

She nodded. “Yeah, sure.” He opened the door. “Have a good one,”

 

She watched him drive off, shutting the door once out of sight. She leaned against the frame, exhaling a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding.

 

She hoped no one was dead. It could destroy him.

 

She winced as she slowly made her way back to the couch, lifting her feet on the table in front. She sucked her teeth as the ice pack hit her bare skin, resting it on her ribcage. She groaned in frustration - she couldn’t wait until her injuries healed.

 

* * *

 

Harper leaped up from the seat as the front door clicked open, the familiar sounds of Root’s shoes clicking on the hardwood floor. The met midway in the hallway between the rooms.

 

“Hey, Harper,” Root smiled, “find anything interesting,”

 

“Not the cookies,” Harper growled, dragging Root by the arm back into the kitchen. On the table lay a pile of folded up scraps of paper next to the pad of paper, filled with scribbles of information. Harper grabbed a scrap.

 

“‘What is Shaw’s favorite color? Count the letters and times it by five- count those steps from this letter north east!’” Harper read, tossing the paper back into the pile.

 

Root laughed, sliding by her deeper into the kitchen.

 

“Root, where are you going?” Harper complained in exasperation, following her. Root kneeled down and open the oven, pulling out a tray of cookies.

 

“Thanks for taking notes, they look really in-depth,” Root smiled, holding the tray out. She took a bite from one. “Wow, orange extract really does the trick,” she nodded with a smile. Harper stared at her. “Okay, to be fair, I told you I would give it to you when I got home,” Root reasoned. “I never said the clues would lead to anything.”

 

Harper continued to stare, finally letting out a laugh. “You are unbelievable,” she said, shaking her head. She took a cookie from the tray, still nodding.

 

“You’re less upset than I thought,” Root replied, her eyebrows knitting in slight confusion.

 

“I’m annoyed, but that’s the shit I’d pull,” Harper replied, taking a bite. “I took your dumb notes for you, not much happened.”

 

Root set the tray down, leaning over to grab the pad of paper. She smirked at the random notes Harper wrote down, thinking it’d be relevant to the clues. _‘Ate crunchy fruit= apple? Favorite color red?’_

 

_-meeting for man at job about shooting_

_-unclear if fatalities_

_-shaw watch tv_

_-grunted (pain??)_

_-minimal movement_

_-daughter and s don't talk a lot_

 

Root nodded, satisfied with the notes. She pulled out her wallet, tossing over a twenty dollar bill.

 

“Thank you,” she said, “seriously,”

 

Harper finally grinned, pocketing the cash. “No problem,”

 

“Can you do this every day for this week? Twenty bucks?” Root offered. “I’m gonna try to convince my boss to let me work from home.” She looked mournfully upward, her eyes softening. “It’s just, y’know, Jason used to sit right there and it’s just too hard to work. At home, at least, it’s familiar and more comforting,” she cried, adding a sniff for good measure. She resumed her grin. “What’d you think? Believable?”

 

Harper scoffed. “Messed up,” she decided. Root thought about that for a moment, cocking her head to the side and humming in agreement.

 

Harper grabbed a napkin and began to stack cookies inside, fitting four. She put it in her pocket. “I gotta go - we got a new runner yesterday and I need to give him the run down. See you tomorrow?”

 

“Aw, and you came all the way out here for me?” Root cooed, placing her hand over her heart. Harper rolled her eyes with a smile.

 

“How could I refuse you?” Harper teased, heading towards the door. Root followed her.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Root confirmed, unlocking the door for her. “I’ll save you some cookies,”

 

“My hero,” Harper replied dryly, heading down the street. A smile lingered on Root’s face as she shut the door behind her, waltzing over to the kitchen. She sat on the stool, re-reading the few notes Harper had taken. Bear padded up to her, nudging his head against her shin, whining softly.

 

“I’ll take you out in a sec,” Root promised, stroking his head. He panted happily in response, licking at her hand.

 

Root continued staring at the sheet of paper, worry etching into her thoughts. She did need Harper, but now with the threat looming over her and the entire operation’s head, she doubted whether it was worth to risk the woman’s liberty.

 

This was a feeling she hadn’t felt since she was twelve years old, living back in the Union. Hanna and her had met when they were kids at school. Every day they would make their way to the nearby creek. Hanna would play in the water and Root would skip stones until dinner time came, when Hanna would go back to her house.

 

Root often spent nights by the creek, huddled up in her fur coat against the below freezing temperatures. The fire she built never was enough, but it was better than staying home and seeing her mother splayed out unconscious on their shared bed, an empty liquor bottle by her hand resting next to Root’s pillow. It had been that way since Root had turned ten and her father died in a factory accident. She had been fragile ever since Root’s brother had died three years earlier at the age of two from pneumonia, but that had sent her over the edge.

 

After Hanna disappeared on her way home from the creek, Root stopped going. She returned to her home, opting to sleep on the floor by the mice than to breathe in her mother’s rancid breath from drinking too much mixed in with the surrounding air of sweat and vodka. She lay at night wondering what had happened to her friend, wondering who had taken her. She thought of the ways she would make them pay. Root never got closure.

 

Root swallowed back the lump in her throat. She didn’t want another Hanna, but Harper was coming close.

 

She stood up from her stool, almost running to the door. She needed fresh air, she needed to distract herself. “C’mon,” she urged, her voice straining. Bear padded up to her, his tongue wagging, oblivious to the turmoil that his owner was facing.

 

The sun was in the process of setting, casting a deep orange hue amongst the sky. The woman and her dog walked around the neighborhood, and again, and again. The sun fell lower in the sky, the orange replaced by a purple, their shadows growing longer against the concrete sidewalk.

 

* * *

 

“Hey,” a voice called, so soft Shaw almost didn’t hear it. She glanced up to see Samantha and Bear standing by the front of the path to her house.

 

Shaw was too drained to get up and leave. Cole wasn’t home yet; he had called earlier that evening to let her know not to wait up. The call was rushed, he seemed busy. She hoped the agents weren’t dead, for his sake.

 

“Hey,” she replied finally, nodding at the other woman. Taking it as an invitation, Samantha walked up the path, sitting on the porch bench beside her. She mimicked Shaw’s position, hoisting her knees up to her chest, her arms wrapped protectively around them. She rested her chin on her left knee, looking out towards the street. The two woman sat in silence, watching the cars zoom by as husbands returned from work to their wives, ready for dinner.

 

“You’re quiet today, huh,” Shaw remarked finally, breaking the silence. Samantha smiled, yet it didn’t agree with the pained expression displayed in her eyes.

 

Shaw continued staring at the other woman. This was a side of her she had only seen glimpses of over the short time in which they had known each other.

 

“You had a friend over, huh?” Shaw asked. Usually she wasn’t a talker, but she needed something to fill the silence. It was unnerving.

 

Samantha turned her head to look at the other woman. “Yeah, Harper,” she murmured. “My friend.” It seemed almost bitter how she said it.

 

“Do you work together?” Shaw tried.

 

Samantha let out a laugh, too cheerful for her current disposition. “In a sense,” she chuckled.

 

Shaw nodded, recognizing that the subject was closed. She leaned over and scratched behind the dog’s ears, suddenly needing something to do with her hands.

 

“What about any of the neighbors? You friends with them?”

 

Samantha turned to her, raising her eyebrows. “You seriously think I’d be any of their friends?”

 

“Not all can be bad, right? Some are…” Shaw paused to think of a positive word. “Well-intentioned,” she supplied, wincing even as she said it. Samantha laughed again, her mood seeming to brighten.

 

“The Reys have been trying to have me over for dinner for ages,” she said finally, going back to staring at the street. “I think they want to do it just so they can say they did. Like, they took me in after Jason’s death, look how kind and compassionate they are!” She cast a wry look at Shaw and added jokingly, “and well intentioned,”

 

“I keep on telling Genrika to mess up their garden,” Shaw admitted. “Throw rocks into the flower beds, kick mud into it, anything really. I’d do it myself, but I’d probably get caught more easily. I’m small, but not enough to hide behind their flower boxes,”

 

“Or maybe you’re just scared of the wrath of Nicole Ren,” she teased.

 

“Maybe,” Shaw agreed. “She’s a force not to be reckoned with. I’ve fought against men twice my size without flinching once-” Shaw stopped, realizing what she had just said. She quickly glanced at the other woman who only seemed to raise an eyebrow at the idea, but nothing more. Shaw hadn’t told her much about her life- a conscious decision- especially things about work. She didn’t tell many people.

 

Shaw brushed the uneasy feeling aside. She wouldn’t tell her more, but it wasn’t the end of the world if Samantha knew a little bit more about herself, she supposed. Shaw continued talking. “But her? She’s, well…” her voice trailed off. She smiled and chuckled lightly.

 

“Terrifying,” Samantha laughed, finishing for her. “At a street fair, she told all the wives that the judge for the pie competition was allergic to gluten when he really wasn’t. No one knew what to do- all of their pies ended up crumbling the second the fork hit,”

 

“So she won?”  


“No, I did,” Samantha replied, surprising the other woman. “I saw her go out to pick some strawberries from her garden and snuck in through the open window. I replaced her sugar with salt and ran out before anyone could notice.”

 

“Where was Tommy? Her kids?”

 

“In the other room watching TV,” Samantha smirked. She glanced over, raising her eyebrow. “I can be very quiet if I need to be,” she flirted. Shaw shook her head in annoyance, though secretly slightly relieved. She was clearly in a better mood than from before.

 

The two woman resumed their silence, looking back to the street, the activity dwindling as it got darker. The last bits of daylight shone on the two women; Samantha’s hair looked practically golden in the lighting. She wasn’t who Shaw thought she was, that was for certain.

 

Shaw blushed as Samantha caught her staring, quickly turning her gaze back towards the road.

 

“Why’re you out here?” Samantha asked suddenly, her voice as soft as the remaining bits of sunshine that illuminated them.

 

“Genrika’s at a sleepover with some friend from school. And Cole’s at work. So I’m out here. Waiting, I guess,” Shaw answered with a shrug.

 

“Didn’t peg you for the type to wait up for your husband, Sameen,”

 

“I’m not. Usually, at least,” she replied, scanning the road for the familiar pair of headlights. It remained dark. “He just seemed to have a rough day today. I don’t know how he is,”

 

Samantha nodded alongside her. “He’s a good man,” she said. “Its good he has you to watch his back,”

 

Shaw sighed. “Maybe,” she replied finally. She was the one causing him stress at work. She shouldn’t’ve shot those men so carelessly, she was just so excited to be back apart of the action again.

 

They sat in a comfortable silence, watching the neighbors through their windows. They were watching television; they were sitting down to eat at the table; they were fighting in the kitchen in hushed tones to not disturb the kids.

 

“I’m gonna take Bear home,” Samantha announced, standing up. She glanced down at the smaller woman. “You should stretch out your legs, let them heal,” she advised.

 

“I almost was a doctor, you know,”

 

“Then you know its not good to sit on an injury like that,” Samantha replied in a sickly sweet voice.

 

Shaw slowly turned her body, grunting through the pain shooting through her side, lying down on the bench, propping up her head and her feet with the armrests on each side. She was grateful Samantha hadn’t tried to help her move around. Her legs buzzed as the blood rushed back into them. “You happy?” she asked, no malice despite the tone she took.

 

Samantha gave her a small smile which leaned to the right side of her face. “Goodnight, Sameen,” she said gently, ignoring the woman’s question.

 

Shaw nodded, returning her stare.

 

“Goodnight, Samantha,”

 

Shaw watched as the other woman and her dog cross the street, safely making it back inside. She turned her attention back towards the road, searching for Cole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i debated for a bit between posting the harper interaction and the root/shaw interaction as two separate chapters but ultimately decided on one long-ass post. i hope you enjoyed it as much as i did writing it

**Author's Note:**

> lmk if you have any critiques or comments or ideas etc
> 
> thanks for reading i hope you all enjoyed it
> 
> ik its not super gay yet.. but it will be
> 
> i write a which is a good and bad thing
> 
> i'll probably update every day/every other day bc i have a few chapters in already bc lol @ me for not realizing that ao3 had a waitlist so now i have to post the night before the last ep lol
> 
> hmu at flushed-asian on tumblr too if u want


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